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Home Town Heroes
A Brief Background
Home Town Heroes is (HH) the working title of a new book that features local everyday folk and even a few household names. The book features a group of Columbus natives that meet our Hero criteria. (Many heroes are ordinary people who do extraordinarily actions) Each individual will receive a short list of questions followed by an interview about their life story.
The first decade of my role as a social worker I learned that the single most powerful intervention in an individual’s life was finding work that was deeply fulfilling and it paid “real money.” I was bored with acquiring stressful jobs with titles that all sounded the same.
That year I read a book by Daniel Pink called A Whole New Mind which described our new paradigm of working and life style. The combination of my past work, reading Dan Pinks’ book started to free me up to redefine my work acquiring by first identifying a the portable job role that could capture all my skills and talents. Community Action Hero David Yorka emerged as a job role container that is just the right size for my Vocational Identity.Initially I resisted this title at first and then embraced it under the professional guidance of local Brain-Stormer Don “The Idea Guy” Snyder.
Both Don and I saw a direct connection between the comic book superheroes superpowers and the skills, talents and fascinations that everyone has inside them. It is referred to by a small group of career professionals as one’s Internal Job Description – our personal mission, calling or vocation that we can use to change the lives of others.
Superman a fictional character, a comic book superhero widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio. Sports superstars and show business figures are often cited as heroes however they do not feel as deeply rooted in our group mind as the classic comic superheroes; Superman (created in 1932) Batman (1939) Spiderman (1962) and this year’s surprise box office blockbuster Ironman (1963) who was conceived by comic book legend Stan Lee. The heroes that change the world are as we know; the real-life human heroes are parents, friends, family and others who have come to us in a time of need.
As the definition of work and career continue to expand and change at a rapid pace there are more and more young men and boys that are lost in a fog of confusion and fear for lack of the right tools and support. When a student comes to class "unable to learn" with no dreams to pursue when they leave school there is a "brain drain"(down instead of out) of a different kind.
Today many movies, graphic novels and other superhero fare contain a more “adult” content with added complexity and have evolved as our larger culture has progressed. I believe that beneath the escapism our superheroes represent a truly American interpretation of the mythology of ancient Rome, Greece, Asia and other cultures that have used super-human characters in fantastic stories that provided basic human principals and tales to enrich or explain the true nature of mankind.
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Labels: comics, Dan Pink, Don Snyder, Home Town, local heroes, Multiple Intelligences Theory, mythology, Stan Lee, super powers, Vocational Identity, youth culture
HeroTown IISecret OriginSusan Peaks came into the world seventy years ago in a rural town outside of Toledo. The middle child of Fred and Mabel ,her hardworking parents ,who worked a small farm. Mabel ran the modest home cooking, cleaning, canning the food, making pickles, jams and other edibles that supported the five family members. Fred worked at The Standard Oil company in addition to working the farm and caring for the bees that yielded caramel colored jars of comb honey for family and for selling at a small roadside stand along the gravel driveway.Like her parents Susan was an avid reader and excelled in her studies with a natural talent for math, physical sciences and history. Susan attended an all female college not far from home and in the process rediscovered a childhood fascination with astronomy. While in graduate school she met Vincent a young chemistry professor who matched her passion for learning and desire to raise a family. A year later they relocated to Grandview Ohio , a small city suburb of Columbus where Vince had secured a position as an editor of scientific journals while Susan managed the apartment until locating a house in a nearby suburb that was more than fit to settle into and start a family. Vince and Susan adopted a baby boy in 1966 and then a girl in 1968 followed by a two year old child through a Catholic Adoption Program for babies living in an orphanage in Pusan, Korea.The three children thrived in the quiet suburb while Susan slowly found herself sliding into the role of "single parent" with Vince away on business , working long hours and eventually disconnecting from the rest of the family. After several years of a chaotic and stressful marriage Susan returned to graduate school to pursue a masters degree and a doctorate in Physics with a specialization in Astrophysics. Susan sought higher education and in addition she received an elevated sense of self and the personal power to have a full life that included children, grandchildren and distinguished career, teaching at a nearby University, running a prestigious lecture series as well as operating a small observatory and planetarium for students and community groups.Super PowersSusan has had a long career as an activist; donating her time and resources to the education of several young students in Central America, providing support for prospective scientists (particularly young women --when she graduated in the late seventies women made up less than ten percent of the academics with an advanced degree in physics.) Susan traveled the world doing research and she made sure that her three children had opportunities to visit other countries even traveling with her to the mountainous regions that are home to the worlds most powerful telescopes.
Now in her fourth career she plays a very active role in the lives of her grandchildren, continues to work as a part-time teacher and is a technical writer and consultant for a educational services company. She recently lost her husband Vincent to a rare blood cancer after three grueling years of providing for his needs and well-being. Susan's parents lived into their nineties so it is not surprising she can still out work many thirty year olds and continues to create a legacy of generosity, selflessness, a never ending curiosity of the young girl who gazed up to the night sky and became a "star doctor"as her seven year old grand-daughter says it. Susan is a hero to many students, friends and family that still looks up to the night sky in her backyard --providing others with a wondrous view of the heavenly bodies she has shared with so many --humble, compassionate and brave she continues to bring us back to earth, back home.Labels: career satisfaction, investment, magic, productivity, service, Vocational Identity, youth
HomeTown Hero I
Secret Origin
A healthy baby boy is is born to a single mother at Mt. Carmel East Hospital in the quiet predawn hours in the summer of 1956. The baby grew into a tall young man, an only child in a very large extended family.T. Wayne Gatewood lived in a large brick house in a west-side neighborhood known as The Hilltop (He would grow up there and move out some forty one years later). After his cousins, aunts, nieces and nephews, Mother and Grandmother and finally his three grown children moved on and time came for T. Wayne and his wife to find a smaller nest to settle into.
T. Wayne's formative years were filled with the contrast of the ugly fallout of civil rights to living with family and friends that acted as a buffer as mentors, companions, elders, who provided a profound love and handed him the mighty walking stick of the families traditions. T.Wayne's early journey included eating with his Grandmother Lizzie who prepared a meal they shared during the school lunch period, the fascination of learning carpentry from his Uncle Nate with the intoxicating smell of fresh wood and the skill and ease that several family members handled tools and created something from nothing. T.Wayne learned what it meant to be a Gatewood despite being called a clumsy slow learner and being chased home by small groups of white men looking to act out the toxic racism that fueled their rage and violence. It was a chaotic and confusing moment in history to navigate the choppy waters of adolescence. It is said that " A boy without a father is like a ship without a compass." Superpowers T.Wayne got involved with football and track at Columbus West High School and the tutoring at home and school took this slow learner to West Virgina University to study business and play offensive tackle in the 1975 Peach Bowl under legendary Coach Bobby Bowden. Wayne and his young wife both work to live in a small apartment with their baby girl. His scholarship was just enough to sustain his needs and money for rent, food, diapers and other essentials came from part-time work. T. Wayne graduated from W.V.U. with a business degree, a new ability to "learn how to learn" and a baby boy on the way. Along the way Wayne uncovered a natural talent for working with young people, an entrepreneurial mind, a love of professional speaking, training and a passion for carpentry. The moment these elements of his true self converged THE BUILDER emerged to give his hands, heart and head to crafting a Vision of a world where all people have access to use their superpowers to Build dreams and live in the hard, satisfying work of change. Labels: Action Hero, career satisfaction, cuttin grass, design, E.Q, Fatherhood, fear, local heroes, Multiple Intelligences Theory, parental expectations, THE BUILDER, Vocational Identity, youth
HeroTown Secret OriginA young couple driving from the East coast to California to start a family and anew life. The woman is in the third tri-mester of her pregnancy and after many hours on the road the car brakes down near Zanesville, Ohio. They use their last coins to fix the car and the man drops his pregnant girlfriend in Columbus to receive proper medical care and support while he sets up a home in California.
The women has a healthy red-haired son she names Christopher and moves in with family through Catholic Social Services. The women waits to be contacted by her betrothed and waits and waits...
With a heavy heart, the woman puts the infant for adoption because she feels that she does not have the means to provide for the child. After a short time in foster care the boy is adopted by a couple who live in Columbus, Ohio.
SuperPowersThe boy named Christopher grows up to be Community Action Hero David Yorka who attends school in Columbus at The Ohio State University. David spends the next two decades working in homeless shelters, housing projects, and developing a fascination with Career Formation and a passion for innovative solutions to eradicating poverty.
David unwraps his gift with the help of many wise mentors and associates. David utilizes his superpowers of vision, insight, compassion and creativity to work with others seeking to unwrap their gift. "SUPER POWERS ACTIVATE"Labels: Action Hero, community creatives, Multiple Intelligences Theory, story power, super powers, Vocational Identity, your media
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