As Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Bernard Malamud wrote in The Natural, "Without heroes, we are all plain people, and don't know how far we can go."
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Always do what you are afraid to do." (He blew the whistle on St. Augustine slave owners in 1827 after he observed a Bible Society meeting, presided over by a man who was simultaneously presiding over a slave sale on the steps of Government House.
Read my September 2011 St. Augustine Record column about another hero, my friend and mentor, William Stetson Kennedy, here. From The New York Times and YouTube:
Bystander Tackled and Disarmed One of the Sydney Gunmen, Video Shows
The video, verified by The New York Times, shows a man sneaking up on one of the shooters who targeted a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney on Sunday.
Video verified by The New York Times shows a bystander — who local authorities called a hero — tackling and disarming one of the gunmen who targeted a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday.
The video shows a man, apparently unarmed, sneaking up on one of the shooters from between two cars and jumping on him from behind before wrestling a long gun from his hands.
Chris Minns, the premier of the state of New South Wales, told reporters on Sunday that he had seen the video. “That man is a genuine hero,” he said. “And I’ve got no doubt that there are many, many people alive tonight as a result of his bravery.”
Responding to the footage, Mr. Minns shook his head and said, “Unbelievable. It’s the most unbelievable scene I’ve ever seen: A man walking up to a gunman who had fired on the community and single-handedly disarming him. Putting his own life at risk to save the lives of countless other people.”
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