"Part 7: In Search Of Heroes Interview with Gregory Alan Williams, Baywatch TV Program Star, Was Interviewed by Dan Mader, As a Part Of the In Search Of Heroes™ Program" by Dan Mader
Click Here to see the video of Dan Mader interviewing Gregory Alan Williams, a star of Baywatch
"Gregory Alan Williams, Star of Baywatch TV Program, Was A Real-Life Hero and Played An Integral Part In the In Search Of HeroesTM Copywriting Program for High School and College Journalism and Multi-media Students That Teaches Students How To Spread Good News World-wide Using Copywriting, Blogs, RSS Feeds, Photos and Audio and Video Interviews To Create Websites That Tell the Unique Stories of Local and International Heroes Who Help Others In Many Different Ways and Deserve Recognition For Their Good Works"
Dan Mader: “So we need to be able to see the difference between true heroism and heroic acts?
Gregory Alan Williams: “There is heroism in, certainly, heroic acts. I guess what I’m saying is, is that we, we can find heroism in other than extraordinary acts. Or, because I think that the daily commitment and fulfillment of a commitment is extraordinary.”
Gregory Alan Williams: “As I became an adult and realized what was required to be an honorable adult, I realized. And I – I – I – oh, goodness gracious, I tried to avoid it. I mean, I tried all kinds of ways, because I thought, oh, my goodness, this adult thing, this responsible thing, this is, you know…let me hang out and go party, you know.”
Gregory Alan Williams: “But there’s definitely heroism. We need to look in other places because as long as we say that heroism is an extraordinary act of courage or bravery at great risk to one’s self, to one’s physical self, for example, then I can deny my responsibility to other people because I can say, oh, well, that guy was very strong. He was very brave. He was very courageous, and I’m not very brave, and I’m not very strong.”
Gregory Alan Williams: “So I can never do what he did. I could never be a hero. And, so that allows people then to disassociate themselves from their responsibility to other people. If they come to believe that that responsibility requires great bravery, great courage, great strength, you see, then they can say, oh, they can distance themselves and say, ‘Well, no, I don’t have to raise my voice in the face of mob violence because that man who did was strong and tall.’ You see, so I don’t have to do that. But, the truth is, that we all must raise our voices in the face of a mob.”
Dan Mader: “I believe that no matter what the age of a person, I mean, people say that teenagers lose their respect for heroes, adults lose their respect for heroes, but I think that we’re always searching for heroes, someone to pattern our life after. So, who do you feel would be the best hero today?
Gregory Alan Williams: “I call my book A Gathering of Heroes because I think that’s what we require – a gathering of heroes. And those folks come in all different forms. Sometimes they enter our lives for only a brief moment, passionate moment. A word, a phrase. There’s nothing to fear but fear itself.”
Gregory Alan Williams: “I wonder how many soldiers in the Second World War remember Mr. Roosevelt’s words in battle, ‘There’s nothing to fear but fear itself when you are scared to death.’ So for some, see, that’s a moment, you know, someone we can – oh, that’s a hero. I’ll take that. Here’s a man who, once vital and healthy, finds himself in a wheelchair, but yet he kept pushing or perhaps that was inspirational to people and he saw Mr. Roosevelt as being his hero in his life.”
Gregory Alan Williams: “There is a gathering of heroes in our lives… all kinds of different folks, I think, who come in. I think it’s best for us to be pragmatic. If we say I want to pattern my life after this person, the moment we see imperfection, then what happens to the pattern, you see.”
Gregory Alan Williams: “My mother sews and I remember when I was little, we used to go to J.C. Penney’s, she used to get a pattern. And, she would make that dress based on that pattern. If the pattern was messed up, the dress would be messed up. I guarantee you, that any human being that you pattern your life after will be imperfect, therefore, the pattern will be messed up.”
Gregory Alan Williams: “So, what one wants to do, perhaps, is to take from a variety of experiences, situations, and people, and create their own pattern for your own life, you see. Take a little from Bob, a little from Bill, from Ellen, little bit from Susie, little bit from Confucius, little bit from Roosevelt, little bit from Kennedy, little bit from Cain, little bit from Malcolm, you see.”
Gregory Alan Williams: “What we’re so used to doing is throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Oh, he’s a republican…write him off. He’s a democrat…write him off. He’s white…write him off. And, there may be all sorts of good things coming out of this person which we can learn, but if they aren’t a member of our group, if we aren’t affiliated with their sect, if we don’t speak their dialect of English, then, oh, write them off. And we lose.”
Gregory Alan Williams: “You have two men. And one has a parcel of land and the other has seed. Well, the man with the parcel of land says, ‘Well, you know what, you don’t speak my dialect of English so I’m not going to let you plant your seeds on my land.’ So the man with the seeds says, ‘Oh, yeah, well, no big deal. You don’t speak my dialect of English, you know what I mean, so I’m not going to plant my seeds in your land.’ And come spring, they find them both dead of starvation.”
Gregory Alan Williams: “See what I’m saying? One’s got the land and the other’s got the seed. But, they got these things going on with each other which keeps them from coming together cooperatively and sharing the value that they both have. One has valuable seed, the other has the land, and one without the other is worthless, you see. They both die. They both starve to death. And, so very often in our lives, this is what happens.”
Gregory Alan Williams: “We starve spiritually, psychologically, emotionally, physically, because we’re unwilling to exchange with people what we need because we are not a part of their group, you see. It’s a dangerous way to live, so I suggest that we be pragmatic. And if we see a person with some seed, and I know I’ve got a little land, even if I don’t have some land, I’d say, ‘Hey, listen, you’ve got some seeds there. Could I get a couple of those, you know.’ And maybe I can, you know, and I could start my own garden.”
Gregory Alan Williams: “So I think patterning our lives after a specific person may be a mistake. I think we may be doomed for disappointment. But, if we recognize that people are imperfect and we go about gathering what we can from people, from a gathering of heroes, we may be a lot better off.”