November 1978 – Wilmington, North Carolina: The basketball player universally acknowledged as the greatest of all time (GOAT) almost quit the game as a skinny 15-year-old. He thought about it; he talked to his father about it, but he didn’t. He stuck it out. He had...
Winter 1915 – Antarctica: Captain Ernest Shackleton made the gut-wrenching decision. They would eat their 70 sled dogs. With their food stores almost gone, the 28-man crew had been expecting the decision. Some were disgusted by the idea – many of the dogs had become...
May 16, 2017 – New School University, New York City: Barbara Hillary was honored that New School University asked her to give the address at their 81st commencement exercise. The 86-year-old had earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees there. At this graduation, she...
1872 – Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia: Booker arrived at the school with 50 cents in his pocket. Exhausted and filthy after walking almost 300 miles, he was unsure whether they would take him as a student. Assistant principal Mary Mackey interviewed him and then...
1940 – Los Angeles, California: John Goddard overheard his grandmother sigh, “If only I had done those things when I was John’s age.” It was something John had heard her say before. Even at age 15, John knew he did not want to make the same mistake. On a rainy...
Summer 2006, Fort Hayes State University – Hays, Kansas: Academic Advisor Joleen Briggs received an email request from Nola Ochs inquiring about her old transcript. Briggs looked for the old transcript for several hours before her search took her to the basement...
