1947 – Sycamore, Illinois: Learning to read was a struggle for young David Boies, and it was exasperating and frustrating for his schoolteacher mother. Because he struggled, his mother assumed he was lazy. Instead of learning to read, David preferred to memorize...
1899 – Detroit, Michigan: At age 36, his associates and friends referred to him as “a day-dreaming mechanic who preferred to tinker with odd machines rather than to work steadily at a responsible job.” He had been fired from one job, quit several others, and had...
1981 – San Diego, California: When Bob Goff told his parents he was applying to law school, they stared in disbelief. Both educators, they had been disappointed with his academic performance. When he graduated from high school, they suggested that he pursue a...
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...