I chose to start with someone not quite so recognizable, but definitely commendable.
Antwone Fisher
Antwone Fisher was born in 1959 in an Ohio state prison, the child of 17-year-old Eva Mae Fisher and 23-year-old Eddie Elkins - with his father having been shot and killed before Antwone was even born. His mother's imprisonment and father's absence left him to be declared a ward of the state, and so Antwone was place in foster care before he was even a year old. For the first two years of his life Antwone was fortunate to be in the care of a loving family, with a foster mother that grew very attached to her new son. But the state intervened and quickly put Antwone back into the foster care system, fearful that his foster mother's feelings would grow to a problematic level of attachment. At the time, his mother was still in prison, and a reunion between the two would have been impossible to secure. So Antwone was placed in the care of Reverend and Mrs. Pickett, where the trauma of his childhood began. The Pickett family was very abusive to Antwone for the twelve-year duration of his stay, both emotionally and physically. Antwone's foster parents put him down constantly, beat him, isolated him, and one of the family members, his elder foster sister, forced Antwone to kiss and lie with her when they were under the age of 10. The abuse finally came to an end when Antwone reached the age of 16, and he walked out of the Pickett household without getting so much as a good-bye. Antwone graduated high school and turned to the YMCA for shelter and help, and became a legally emancipated minor from the state. There he befriended a young criminal nicknamed "Butch" in order to be protected from the other young delinquents and sexual predators staying at the YMCA. When his time at the YMCA ran out, Antwone was homeless, and he ended up sleeping on park benches and in alleys, struggling to stay alive. Unsure of anywhere else to turn, Antwone decided to join the US Navy. He served the country for eleven proud years, and became friends with a Navy psychiatrist named Commander Williams, who helped him come to terms with his abusive past and realize his potential. In 1992, Antwone finally left the Navy and began working at Sony Pictures Entertainment as a security guard. He was also compelled to look for members of his birth family, and found his aunt Annette Elkins in Cleveland, his mother Eva Mae, and the rest of his surviving kin.
Since then, Antwone's accomplishments have been numerous and impressive. He became a film producer and screenwriter and has been working in Hollywood for the past 16 years, with his name attached to fourteen writing projects in film. He wrote his memoirs, entitled Finding Fish, which became a New York Times bestseller. The memoirs have since been translated into the acclaimed motion picture Antwone Fisher, which stars Denzel Washington and then young newcomer Derek Luke in the title role, and is directed by Denzel Washington (movie poster pictured above). His other great accomplishment is a collection of poetry titled Who Will Cry For the Little Boy?, a work that quickly made the National Best Seller list after its publication and is now one of the best-selling books of poetry of all time.
Antwone has also been awarded many times for his achievements. He won the Christopher Award for his part in scripting the movie Antwone Fisher, as well as the Humanitas Prize for writing and co-producing, an NAACP Image Award for the same film, the Screenwriter of the Year Award from the National Association of Theatre Owners, the National Angel in Adoption Award in 2002, and he has been nominated for Best Original Screenplay from the Writers' Guild of American West for Antwone Fisher. In 1993, Antwone was named as one of 50 people in Hollywood to watch by Variety Magazine. In 2005, he was also named as one of the Top 100 People in Hollywood You Need To Know by Fade In Magazine, as "the First Word in film". Finally, in May of 2003, Antwone was awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters degree by conferring from Cleveland State University, in honor and recognition of his achievements as an author, producer, poet, screenwriter, and his loyalty to his community and indestructable spirit.
Antwone now teaches at the University of California in Los Angeles as a professor, and is working on the film project Training Day 2 for Warner Brothers Studios. He also has a new book due out for spring of 2010, titled A Boy Should Know How To Tie A Tie - And Other Lessons for Succeeding in Life.
I believe Antwone is a great inspiration because he's such a clear example of the old saying, "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade". From a miserable start to a glorious finish, the writer shows no signs of slowing down. He also seems to be content with his present, at peace with his past, and looking forward to his future. It doesn't matter that he was once made low by psychological abuse - Antwone is completely free.
"I think back upon a childhood full of longing for belonging, and see my
life now as what I have created out of my dreams. An image comes to mind of
Mrs. Brown at the orphanage in Cleveland, me sitting at her side, telling
her, "you'll read about me someday." I was definitely dreaming then.With no
evidence of that ever being possible, I clung to that preposterous vision
and with the force of those dreams willed it and made it happen. Not because
I needed to be famous, but because I needed a world that made me feel
uninvited to be wrong. So I imagined myself free, I imagined myself loved, I
imagined myself... as somebody."
--Antwone Fisher
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