Clearly I'm going through a lists phase. What prompts this one is that whenever I heard questions like 'who do you most admire' or 'who's your hero?' I always found them impossible to answer. There are so many amazing human beings to choose from, after all. But if I had to compose a list from the twentieth century that reflected personal prejudice it might look something like this. Entries are in no particular order; just as they occurred to me. My historical list would probably be completely different, but that's another story.
1. Mikhail Bulgakov, Russian novelist, for writing The Master and Margarita.
2. Morihei Ueshiba, Japanese martial artist, for founding the art of aikido.
3. Nick Cave, Australian musician, for taking rock in directions no-one else has.
4. Philippe Petit, French wire-walker, for performing on a wire 450m up between the twin towers with no safety gear.
5. Joern Utzon, Danish architect, for designing the Sydney Opera House without knowing if it could be built.
6. George Lucas, American film director, for the first Star Wars movie. Shame about the new ones.
7. Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist, for (repeatedly) revolutionizing painting.
8. Stan Lee, American comic-book writer, for creating the Amazing Spider-man.
9. Eric Cantona, French footballer, for that first title win in 26 years.
10. Michael Oakeshott, English philosopher, for writing that spurs you to think for yourself.
