Excuses of Clay
But I say that's the best reason to get close: to see how little separates each of us from great accomplishments.
If they're not special...
If their talent and success are not the result of some cosmic lottery...
Then what excuses do we have for being anything less?
In the late 1990s, a surprising number of people wanted to tear down Mr. Rogers; to take him off of his pedestal, and show how he was undermining their uber-masculine idea of what Americans should be. ("How dare he tell kids they're all special!")
Others bought into the fake chain email saying Mr. Rogers was a highly-trained sniper who racked up a bunch of confirmed kills in Vietnam or Korea. It was only in response to this violence, the fake story alleged, that Mr. Rogers became kind and gentle.
After he died, his widow went on TV and talked about (among other things) his flaws. I recall some folks getting mad about that, because it made him seem so human; so normal. Not an angel, but a normal guy.
Very different approaches to the same idea - he was nothing more than a flawed, normal person like the rest of us. Such a disappointment.
But I say that's a good thing. We can do better and change our perspective.
Instead of tearing him down or building him up, we can understand that the only thing that separated us from him were his choices.
He was no angel above us. He was no macho ideal turned pacifist.
He made better choices. That's it.
He chose to devote his time to helping.
He chose to focus on what children truly need, instead of what we can sell them.
He chose to invest in society. We can, too.
Exposing a hero's humanity doesn't take a that hero away from us; it shows us how we can all be like them.
No more excuses.