We're not quite so self-reliant

By now, most Deseret Morning News readers have read about "the list." The Atlantic Monthly, in an attempt to educate, enlighten and sell more magazines, asked 10 historians to create a list of the 100 Most Influential Americans of all time. And as with all such lists, people are chipping in with names they feel were left out and pooh-poohing a few that were included.

The news in the Great Basin, of course, is that both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young made the list. Joseph came in at No. 52, just ahead of Bill Gates and behind Margaret Sanger, the mother of birth control.

Brigham was No. 74, just ahead of Babe Ruth.

Elvis made the cut. Frank Sinatra did not.

Dwight Eisenhower made it, but not John F. Kennedy.

Lists are made, of course, to get people's juices flowing, to trigger debate. But what struck me about this list wasn't how many people I thought were left off, but how many people on the list I'd never heard of. And I'm a man who works for a company that trades in information. I ought to know these things.

For instance, I probably should have known of Rachel Carson, listed as the author of "Silent Spring" and "godmother to the environmental movement," but I didn't.

And I couldn't place the names Frederick Law Olmsted (Mr. Landscape Architect), Enrico Fermi (Mr. Physics) or Jane Addams (Ms. Social Work).

It made me wonder how so many people could have such an influence on our nation and be unknown to me.

Then it made me wonder how many people have had a great influence on my own life who I will never know.

Oh, the obvious influences are there — parents, teachers, mentors, heroes.

But what about the people behind those people? Two of my heroes were Elder Neal A. Maxwell and poet William Stafford. What about their teachers, mentors and parents? What debt do I owe them for creating such guiding lights for my life? And what about the influential people in those behind-the-scenes lives?

We Americans are a self-sufficient bunch. We pride ourselves on feeling independent and self-reliant.

But that, I'm afraid, is just an illusion.

My grandfather built his home by himself, board by board, from the ground up. It was a wonderful achievement. But that home wasn't a monument to self-reliance. Someone had to teach Grandpa his carpentry skills, someone had to deliver his lumber, forge the nails he used, package the electrical wire and sell him his saw.

Every time Granddad swung his hammer, dozens of other people were there, swinging it with him.

For single-minded, sturdy Americans that can be a hard lesson to learn.

It has been for me.

And seeing The Atlantic's list of the 100 Most Influential Americans simply made me think of the influential Americans behind those names who we'll never know — the thousands of relatives, teachers, mentors and heroes.

These aren't thoughts that create a sense of personal pride.

But that's all right.

Of the 100 Most Important Virtues, personal pride may not even make the list.

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E-mail: jerjohn@desnews.com