It's important to have a hero, somebody whose ideals and commitment to their ideals leave you with a lasting sense of admiration, respect and inspiration. You don't always have to have the same hero over time, it is reasonable to change heroes as your views changes.

Who is (are/were) your heroes?

When I was Very Young:

My mum was probably my hero. In some ways she still is.

Now I am Six:

I'm very enamoured with St. Francis of Assisi. Now that I am six, I have discovered my love of dogs. It won't ever go away, and every moment for the next 24+ years of my life where there is no dog in my life will hurt.

St. Francis is my kind of saint. He's the type of saint that loves dogs too.

Soon I will be Old:

Henry Cavendish is my hero. Apparently the man was so shy that there is only one portrait of him, obtained by stealth because his fellows from the Royal Society knew that he would be to shy to sit for a portrait.

When I saved up the disposable income a reproduction of Cavendish's portrait will be my second tattoo. I've already got Boltzmann's entropy equation because it is beautiful. Now I am keen to record Cavendish's image for posterity. Cavendish is not beautiful, but he is still my hero.

Pardon my ignorance, Toni, but I have never heard of your "hero". I could have looked him up of course, but I have no problem in admitting to not knowing someone or something.

I know many people have what they call heroes, and it is not my place to criticise something just because I don't understand it. But, I have to say that I have always believed that having a "hero" of your own is pretty weak; wet, in fact. There is nothing about people that is heroic. Certainly, there are a few people who have been recorded as heroes, and received awards for heroism; that's convention and fair enough. But we all know, including the "heroes" themselves, that they just happened to be in the right (or wrong) place in an instance that saw them acting without thought.

Yep. Having been given the chance by you to reflect on my opinion, I am even further convinced that it is dangerous to idolize a mere human.

My candidate is Diogenes, the Greek.

He never considered himself to be a hero, or in fact of any importance.

Toni Lavis,

As a tip, you are referring to role models.

The feckless media abuse words like 'hero'.

I surprised a boy's mother could be his 'hero'.

I'm sick of the way hero has been watered down to mean anyone someone admires. Even worse, all AIDs sufferers are now heroes, everyone killed in the Twin Towers was a hero; and recently a man has an argument with his girlfriend and they both leap off a Cruise liner, he's a hero.

Unless someone does something pretty damn amazing and in the process puts their own life in jeopardy, they don't qualify as a hero in my book.

And, I don't think anyone should worship or idolise anyone else.

Dear Toni,

I had many role models growing up.
I loved stories found in books. Stories that
seeped into my very being. Stories that lifted
the fog for me, caused the Great Aha, and
literally changed my life. I learned from biographies
that even great individuals start out as everyday
children - letting me know that life's possibilities are
without limit. People like Sidney Poitier, Christy Brown,
come to mind.

Then there were the role models in fairy tales and legends
and historical stories. Cinderella enchanted not because
she got the prince but because she was cheerful and
dignified even in unbearable circumstances. King Arthur
showed what a noble deed looked like - and that there
is a thing as duty and sacrifice.

My favourite Australian has to be Sir "Weary" Dunlop.
I had the privilege of meeting the man and getting to know
him. He also did an outstanding job in unbearable
circumstances during the war years.

There are many more people that I could list - including
of course my parents. However this will have to do for now.