How do you fit your hero into 2 minutes? Very, very carefully…!
All kidding aside, getting to interview Edward O. Wilson was the pinnacle of my career so far. How often do you get to meet your hero, sit down face-to-face, and ask him questions about his life? I still get goosebumps just thinking about it!
It probably sounds kind of silly – calling someone you’ve never met your “hero.” But I think it’s important to have someone in your field of work that you can look up to, be inspired by, and who can challenge you to be a greater person.
The first time I heard E. O. Wilson speak, I was at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival. He gave the keynote speech for the festival, in which he discussed the role of science and socio-biology in the future of western civilization. This, of course, was many years ago, before the term “climate change” replaced “global warming;” before we really understood the impact modern man was creating on the globe; before the hopeless pessimists decided there was no turning back. And yet, in EO Wilson, the eternal optimist had already been born.