(TXT) View source
       
       # Ben Collver's Heroes
       
       Below is information about a few people who inspired me.  I feel a
       certain kinship with their ideals.
       
       ## Michael Hart
       
 (IMG) Michael Hart
       
       Michael Hart was a man ahead of his time.  I became aware of Project
       Gutenberg in the 1990's.  I remember reading a newsletter where
       Michael Hart wrote predictions for his project.  I felt skeptical
       about his ambitious projections for exponential growth in the number
       of freely downloadable books.  Though his predictions were not
       immediately possible, they became possible thanks to improvements in
       mass storage, Internet access, and the popularity of Project
       Gutenberg.  In my correspondence with Michael Hart, his writing
       struck me as articulate and humble.  He was willing to explain things
       without talking down to me.
       
 (HTM) Michael Hart photos and writings
 (DIR) Project Gutenberg
       
       ## John Muir
       
 (IMG) John Muir
       
       John Muir was a brilliant lad who aspired to be an inventor and work
       with machines.  He found work setting up machines in factories.  He
       experienced a series of accidents, and the last one left him blind.
       Muir decided that if he did recover his sight, he would not return to
       work in industry, but rather would travel the world...  He followed
       the callings of his heart.  His writing clearly conveys his reverence
       for nature.
       
       > Like everybody else I was always fond of flowers, attracted by
       > their external beauty and purity.  Now my eyes were opened to their
       > inner beauty, all alike revealing glorious traces of the thoughts
       > of God, and leading on and on into the infinite cosmos.
       
 (DIR) John Muir, saint of the American wilderness
 (TXT) John Muir @Wikipedia
       
       ## P.R. Sarkar
       
 (IMG) P.R. Sarkar
       
       P.R. Sarkar came with a mission: planetary transformation.  Through
       his actions and teachings he inspired many people to take an active
       responsibility for humanity's welfare.  He worked to create ambitious
       solutions.  For example, AMURT provides disaster relief around the
       globe.  He also composed the Prabhat Samgiita, a collection of 5,018
       sacred songs.
       
 (HTM) AMURT disaster relief organization
 (TXT) P.R. Sarkar @Wikipedia
       
       ## Jason Scott
       
 (IMG) Jason Scott
       
       Jason Scott is an archivist who used to work as a Unix systems
       administrator.  His career was financially rewarding but ultimately
       unsatisfactory.  What he really enjoyed was his hobby preserving
       artifacts of bygone BBS culture.  Many would expect this to be a
       labor of love and not a legitimate career.  However, Jason wrote his
       own job title and found employment as an archivist.  Now he gets paid
       to play all day long doing what he enjoys most.
       
 (TXT) Jason Scott @Wikipedia
       
       ## Opal Whiteley
       
 (IMG) Opal Whiteley
       
       Opal Whiteley grew up in logging camps around Cottage Grove, Oregon.
       She found it easier to befriend wild animals, flowers, and trees than
       her human peers.  She learned from direct observation.  She attended
       the University of Oregon in Eugene, and the professors wrote that she
       had already acquired greater knowledge and understanding of botany
       and geology than many of the university graduates.  Her personality
       was otherworldly.  For example, one day she was late to class and was
       found out on the lawn on her hands and knees, singing to an
       earthworm.  Apparently, the earthworm was enjoying it.
       
 (TXT) Opal Whiteley @Wikipedia