UNCOMMON HEROES
        
              The world changed significantly this past week when Nelson
        Mandela, once a prisoner for 27 years of South Africa's apartheid
        government, was elected as President of that nation in its first
        free elections ever.  
              People all over the world rejoiced at his victory.  His
        perseverance and faith are a testimony to the power of the human
        spirit.  How many of us could continue to believe there was hope
        after all those years attempting to change what was an oppressive
        society which denied 90% of its people the right to participate
        in governing their own lives?
              I'd like to meet Mandela one day.  I am sure that, like my
        other heroes and heroines, he would appear larger than life.  
              Mandela is special and unique.  Like Gandhi and a few others
        in this century, he changed the course of a nation's history.  I
        believe he is only a part of the tale, and as Paul Harvey says,
        "Now let me tell you, the REST of the story."
              Mandela's successes are immense.  Yet, if it weren't for the
        courage of the former President, and now Vice-President, F.W. de
        Klerk, perhaps none of this history would be written.
              de Klerk is the man behind the South African Saga.  Imagine,
        a white man taking such a stand in a nation that through brute
        force maintained power for nearly a century.  To take a stand
        against insurmountable odds, and at the risk of one's life, is
        the true mark of heroism.  
              Throughout my adult life, I watched South Africa defy the
        nations of the world to change its internal politics.  The US
        imposed embargoes years ago in an attempt to influence its policy
        of apartheid.  The fact that South Africa was mineral rich and
        could produce its own necessary goods made it possible for it to
        resist external pressures for many years.
              Not until Frederik Willem de Klerk became the leader of the
        National Party in February 1989 and president of South Africa in
        August 1989 did things change.  De Klerk, a former lawyer, was
        elected to parliament in 1972, became party leader in Transvaal
        in 1982, and held several cabinet posts before being named party
        chief and then president after P.W. Botha resigned.               As
        president, he eliminated many aspects of Apartheid, ended the ban
        on the African National Congress, released black leader Nelson
        Mandela, and began multiparty negotiations that gave blacks a
        national political role.  de Klerk and Mandela were awarded the
        Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for their joint efforts to bring peace
        and democracy to South Africa.  
              What took place in that nation was not an external change. 
        One man with courage made a stand.  Like Colonel Sherbourne, in
        "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," de Klerk stepped out onto
        the porch and declared change would take place.  He defied the
        odds.  How did he do it?
              I'm just amazed that the radical Afrikaners didn't kill him. 
        Perhaps this is the greatest testimony to the miracle he created. 
        He not only brought about monumental changes but lived to witness
        it in his own time.  I wonder if I met him if he would appear
        larger than life.  Men like him inspire me to want to continue to
        speak out against injustice and dishonesty in the world.  
              How he negotiated this change in the hearts and minds of the
        white South African is the kind of story that great movies are
        made of.  I hope someone is writing a biography on him right now. 
        I believe that would be extraordinary good reading.
              I chuckle whenever I see People's Magazine highlight what
        they consider to be the 25 Most Interesting People in the world. 
        Yes, Cher, Michael Jackson, Marla Maples, and the host of
        celebrities may excite some.  I personally find them to be dull
        and boring.
              Give me instead people like de Klerk and Mandela, Rabin and
        Arafat, Jimmy Carter, and most of all, Mother Theresa.  These
        people model the best souls of all man and woman kind.  I'm sure
        some of your choices would be different than mine.  I'm more than
        sure that if you're reading this article right now, you don't
        read the National Enquirer.  No, that fluff is not for you and
        me.  
              I will say though that if I still used an outside privy, I
        might want some of that sensational journalism stacked up on the
        wooden walls just to take my mind off the business at hand,
        especially in the dead of a winter like the one just passed.
              What is it about people like de Klerk and the others that
        makes them so different, so special, so humanly powerful?  I
        believe what drives them beyond everything else is a passion for
        justice.  Though Arafat and Rabin certainly struggle for
        different reasons, both are vehemently passionate about getting
        justice for their respective people.
              Jimmy Carter issued the mandate to Russia and China nearly
        two decades ago that America would not negotiate with them unless
        they stopped violating peoples' human rights.  China is still in
        reaction to this plea, but in Russia the message was
        wholeheartedly accepted.
              Yes, these international figures are sometimes difficult to
        relate to given their separation from us in time and space.  So
        then, who are the role models that live in our own neighborhoods
        that before our very eyes stand up and make a difference for the
        small communities in which we live?
              As a collective group, I am thinking of and thanking, the
        mothers and fathers, who with love, joy, and respect, planned,
        prepared, and flawlessly "executed" their own game plan.  The
        results was The East Forest All-Sports Banquet held Saturday
        night in honor of the school's athletes.  Every athlete received
        a trophy for his or her contribution to the team effort.  
              Dr. Howard Ferguson, the Forest Area School Superintendent,
        said, "Students profit mightily when they are supported by their
        parents."  In the gymnasium Saturday night, this was evident as
        East Forest's finest athletes received round after round of
        applause for their efforts.
              Yes, the volunteers in service to America's youth make the
        difference. It is in the character they demonstrate that the
        young people of our community can watch, listen, take root and
        grow, and someday become community leaders like their mothers and
        fathers.
              Perspective is a wonderful thing.  Whenever the world
        appears to be growing, dark, dreary, almost like November in our
        souls, we need only take stock of what is right before our very
        eyes to realize just how blessed we truly are.  
              No, once again, Vince, it ain't winning or losing that
        really matters; it's how you played the game that really counts. 
        From Johannesburg, South Africa, to Marienville, PA, is only a
        leap of faith.  Those with the courage to leap tall buildings
        with a single bounce are living among us today.  
              These volunteers make up the rest of the 25 most fascinating
        people in the world for me.  
              And gee, I get to see them almost any time that I want.