Reasonably often in conversations with guests on the radio programme the question will come up as to who has influenced them in what they do for a living. For actors it’s often other actors, for musicians it’s musicians and so on. But when it comes to you and I, who are your influences? Put another way, who are your heroes?
We’ve just seen the British Grand Prix played out in a highly incident-strewn way. Undoubtedly, if asked, a fair proportion of the drivers who rocketed away from the lights at Silverstone would say that their heroes are the likes of Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher or perhaps, from an earlier age, Juan Manuel Fangio. The current drivers are themselves heroes to the next generation of drivers coming up – and with them the next generation of supporters.
Jenson by name...
On Sunday I spoke to a McLaren fan who must have been all of eight years of age about his view of the race that had just ended. When I asked if he was happy that Nico Rosberg from the Mercedes team based in Brackley had won instead of his favourite driver, he thought for a few seconds, and then said, sagely “Yes… at least it wasn’t Vettel”. It was a fascinating example of someone who has risen so fast and been so dominant in his sport that now, just like Schuey, he’s become the nemesis of the grid for some. Who was my pithy motorsport interviewee? The young man was called Jenson…
What is it about the actions of a particular person that makes them a hero – or the kind of person that we might want to emulate in some way ourselves? Is it simply a question of actions or values? Some years ago when the franchise was in its infancy, the first winner of ITV’s “I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here” turned out to be one Tony Blackburn.
KING OF THE JUNGLE
Up to that point the man had been seen as a kind of broadcasting caricature of himself – not someone who launched the UK’s first onshore pop station by hosting the breakfast show on the BBC’s Radio One. Over the weeks making up the series though, Tony emerged as a gentle man of principle, compassion and empathy. Through his actions and values he became the nation’s enthusiastically elected “King of the Jungle”. His career, which had been pretty much in the doldrums at the point of the series beginning, reached stratospheric levels again. At one point I worked on the same station as Tony and although I only met him occasionally, I was impressed by his “normality”. Indeed, on our very first meeting, I was working in one studio, with him in a similar studio next door. Through the glass I could see the great man working – a living legend in industry terms. A few minutes later, the door opened and a nationally familiar face – and voice – walked in. “Hi – I’m Tony – fancy a cup of tea?” he asked. Friendly, unaffected and, as it turned out, a wonderfully natural man with a genuine love of his craft, Tony became not only a colleague but the living embodiment of everything he had exhibited in the jungle. His tea was pretty drinkable too. Motorsport and broadcasting – activities which add little perhaps to the needs of society. And heroes? Maybe the real heroes of today are the ones who do nothing “public” but instead improve our world by working quietly with local community groups and charities. I’m sure you know such people yourself – through your actions might you be influencing someone to be one as well?