You are the Mayor of your town. Somewhere on earth. The city council authorizes you to build a statue of an important person. Who do you choose?
My mother, for many good reasons I won’t go into here. But if by “important” you mean someone who greatly influenced the nation, I wouldn’t try to choose the greatest, as there are too many means of measuring greatness. I’d try to honor and educate by choosing someone more people need to know about, like Haym Salomon, the great American Revolution hero or Mary McLeod Bethune, the educator and civil rights leader.
Stanislav Petrov
Nicolai Vavilov
Someone deceased, no scandals the day after dedication.
Not a politician or military hero - too potentially controversial.
A first responder - always rescuing people.
Lassie!
Woof, woof, woof - Stoopit Timmy’s in the well…again!
Well, there’s always ROBOCOP!
I could spend the money for the move and to construct a pedestal in the town and save a few bucks on the actual statue itself.
More seriously, I’d consider Hypatia of Alexandria, a person of tolerance, education and wisdom, values I would want to instill in my town.
Doxie The Dog. The Hero Stands Thus.
Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong.
I laughed.
Wikipedia: " …a blood plasma donor from Australia whose unusual plasma composition has been used to make a treatment for Rhesus disease. He has made over 1,000 donations throughout his lifetime, and these donations are estimated to have saved over 2.5 million babies from the condition."
Wikipedia: " …an African-American whose cancer cells are the source of the HeLa cell line, the first immortalized human cell line and one of the most important cell lines in medical research. An immortalized cell line reproduces indefinitely under specific conditions, and the HeLa cell line continues to be a source of invaluable medical data to the present day. "
It’s gotta be me. I’m the guy who was chosen to build statues. So a big one of me would be appropriate. With a hat, so the pigeons don’t shit directly on my head. Double finger-guns.
James Harrison is my pick as well.
James Henry Harrison Jr. (born May 4, 1978) is a former American football outside linebacker. He played college football for Kent State University and was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2002. A five-time Pro Bowlselection, Harrison won two Super Bowls with the Steelers: XL and XLIII. In 2008, he became the only undrafted player to be named Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Harrison was known for his hard-hitting style during games.
Nope, Michael Collins.
mmm
I reckon anyone who ever got a statue of them was one kind of a sumbitch or another.
Well then, this is your opportunity to correct that with a pick of your very own.
I’ll go with … Sojourner Truth. Marie (Skłodowska) Curie, as well (representing my Polish heritage.) For a more pop-culture pick, Fred Rogers.
I’d build a statue to Barak Obama because 1) he was the first multi-racial US president, 2) he wasn’t in it to make himself richer, or as an ego trip, 3) he was smart, well-read, and well-spoken 4) he could be trusted with access to nukes, and 5) he’s still alive and would probably appreciate it.
He perhaps wasn’t the best president we’ve ever had, but I trusted him and did the best he could, which is all you can ask of someone in high office.
the unknown firefighter
(as in someone who fights fires, not someone who becomes involved in firefights)
In my home town, Albert Einstein, though they’ve already put one up.*
Here, it would be Kurt Vonnegut.
*The building to the left in the photo used to be my grandparents’ house.
Claude Shannon.
Who? you say. Well, he invented information theory, but his major accomplishment in my book is that he was the first person who showed how you can implement Boolean algebra using vacuum tubes.
For his Master’s Thesis.
He was also an excellent juggler, which should be in the statue.
Tim Berners-Lee, who made this message board, my life, and the world what it is today. It looks like the National Portrait Gallery
had the same idea.