“When the first Superman movie came out, I gave dozens of interviews to promote it. The most frequent question was: ‘What is a hero?’ I remember how easily I’d talk about it, the glib response I repeated so many times. My answer was that a hero is someone who commits a courageous action without considering the consequences…Now my definition is completely different. A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”
— Christopher Reeve, from his autobiography Still Me, 1998
We are all learning about perseverance, hope and resilience during this pandemic, and despite our wishful thinking otherwise, we are in for a long haul, most likely a long series of small “w’s” as we work to return to a new “normal.”
I’m not sure why I tear up during the unexpected scenes from Hoosiers, Working Girl and even Rocky. I’m sure some of it has to do with age and the speed of time. Where did those four decades go? That’s enough to bring tears on most days. But there’s more. Is it the loss of the every-person – Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins; Dorothy Gale, from Kansas (you didn’t know she had a last name, did you?); Denzel Washington in The Equalizer and Gary Cooper in just about anything? It’s not just the loss of the archetypes, but the belief that we saw a little of ourselves at our best in these characters and, in turn, we believed we could become a little of that hero in real life, when our moment came. These weren’t just archetypes, they were raison d’être.
In our newest podcast, The Weekly, in partnership with In-House Community, the publication for Asian-MENA Counsel, we interviewed Dr. Charles Keller, the Scientific Director of Children’s Cancer Therapy Development Institute, the selected charity of In-House Community.
Every year, the FDA approves on average 12 drugs to treat adult cancer, but has only approved eight drugs to treat childhood cancer since 1978. That’s two a decade since about when Rocky was released. Most childhood cancer discoveries never make it past the research labs – there just isn’t enough profit in it. CC-TDI is trying to change that.
One man and a small team of every-persons trying to improve our future. It seems like a message of heroism that we all need to hear at this time.
We now have two regular podcasts, In House Warrior with the Corporate Counsel Business Journal and The Weekly with In-House Community, collectively reaching their 70,000 general counsel members. Take a listen to Dr. Keller. You’ll be glad you did. If nothing else, it will make you feel better.
The Weekly Ep. 1: Hope for Childhood Cancer with Dr. Charles Kellar
Stay safe and be at your best.
Richard Levick
