Mr. Carredio, US history teacher. Taught me critical thinking. He's an Icon to me.

I was on a tennis team for 6 years in junior an dhigh school. Being athletic, commited to a team, having healthy fun with others made its mark for me. I am forever grateful to our tennis coach.

My school teachers in high school. Being in organizations in high school and college.

I do remember clearly taking a day off from college classes for a demonstration teach-in about human rights and having a 6 credit semester class dropped an entire grade as a punishment for wanting to know about the world! We were in a rural area, that college and it was only 1970.

From a small town and college then, I worked for an international airline and flew all over the world.. my world view changed and expanded as the 70's movements grew! My life was formed those years.. liberal, educated, learnign from the Experiemntal College and began yoga which I still study and teach. I play Woodstock music full blast! "It's a free concert from now on!"

Much more but that is some deep roots..

The Grateful Dead! And living off the land with no money (in Hawaii).

I was a freshman in highschool when the genocide in Rwanda happened. I was well self absorbed and in my little bubble as any 14 year old teenager was. I remember seeing actual footage of bodies in rivers, desolated villages, people/children dead...everywhere. It hit me so hard, unlike anything I had ever been aware of up to that point in my life. It was a significant moment in which I was very aware of the world beyond my back yard. I am 33 now and it is still significant to me.

Gulf War 1.0 (Okay, so I was young, but not a kid anymore...still, a huge influence on me and my politics)

The Red Scare - Nuclear War (was overjoyed when Gorbachev appeared)

Three's Company (I grew up in a place where two girls and a guy was...well..."wrong")

Finding out that my best friend's parents were swingers. (see above)

Feminism (took years of deprogramming to recover from the lies accepted as facts by my brain with this one)

Camping, canoe trips, hiking, fishing, hunting, building a house...the things I did with my Dad. They influenced me way more than I gave credit for at the time...in very positive ways. Life affirming...masculinity affirming. Thank you, Dad!

Other than Three's Company, I can't think of any stars or cultural icons of that sort that really shaped me a ton...or at least not in a memorable way where I look back and think, "yeah, that was a role model, or a thing I learned to avoid." I guess I don't take celebrities all that seriously. They're for entertainment mostly...not shaping our lives...that's my context for them.

The new age movement in the beginning before it became exploited.
My wife Tammy, Seth, Christ, and The Buddha.
Music.

The Beatles and the Maharishi. Space exploration. Vietnam and its lessons. Rock. Summer of Love. Probably more, but those come to mind off the top of my head.

Viet Nam, Kennedys, Martin Luther, Michael Jackson, Stones, Led Zeppelin, CSN&Y, Lennon, fishing, hunting, running, climbing, writing

My grandmother...toughest person I ever met with the biggest heart to match

Mr. Lipskee - 5th grade teacher - Learned to appreciate astronomy, science, history and being myself without following anyone

My high school English Teacher - who's name escape - learned to appreciate poetry

My music teacher Mr. Hughes - encouraged my pagan beliefs since he introduced me to interfaith studies

My Science teacher in the 9the grade - Mr. Berman - made me love science even more

Many, many things, in no particular chonological order...

Robert A. Heinlein's "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel."

Susan Cooper's "The Dark is Rising" books.

Robert Lois Stevenson's "Treasure Island"

Disney's "Bedknobs and Broomsticks"

"Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel", by Virginia Lee.

My grandfather taking me "rambling" through the woods and swamps and showing me what things you can eat and teaching me about critters and bringing home lots of magnets from work for me to experiment with (he was a maintenance guy in a hospital). He even showed me how to make an electromagnet from the rheostat in my toy train set. And took me to climb on bulldozers at construction sites after hours. And made the sound effects for Mike Mulligan's steam shovel.

My father, who taught me about integrity, honor, hard work, and self-discipline. And doing the right thing, no matter what. And helping those in need if I can help.

My mother, who taught me about being true to myself, family values, faith, and self-renewal. And about being courageous. And about the importance of believing in myself.

My little sister who was always there. We taught each other about loyalty, protectiveness, imagination, and mischief. And how to not get caught.

My best friend who was (and is) like a brother, who has an incredible moral compass. He kept me out of trouble.

The lady at the zoo who scolded me for dropping spit on the aligator from the boardwalk way up high. She's right. It didn't hurt anything, but I still shouldn't have done that.

Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Nichols who made middle school interesting. As promised, my first book will (eventually) be dedicated to Mrs. Nichols.

Mr. Lyda who taught me to play the trombone and how to march.

Mr. Rogers in high school who made us march and march and march and let us have fun.

Dr. Deluzain who made me *think* in 11th and 12th grade English.

Mr. McGhee who taught us many things that weren't in the Religions of the World book.

Dr. Mix who made my life hell in University Physics I and II. It almost made me drop of of school at the time, but because I hung in there it made the rest of college seem remarkably easy by comparison.

Heathcliff cartooons.

Douglas Adams.

Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Richard Bach.

T.H. White: "The Once and Future King."

"Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" by Shunryu Suzuki.

The fall of the Berlin Wall.

The Challenger explosion.

That one guy standing in front of the tank in Tieneman Square.