uly 30, 2007 issue - It's a trifecta much bigger and rarer than an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony. Only five people in history have ever won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal: Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Elie Wiesel ... and Norman Borlaug.
Norman who? Few news organizations covered last week's Congressional Gold Medal ceremony for Borlaug, which was presided over by President Bush and the leadership of the House and Senate. An elderly agronomist doesn't make news, even when he is widely credited with saving the lives of 1 billion human beings worldwide, more than one in seven people on the planet.
Borlaug's success in feeding the world testifies to the difference a single person can make. But the obscurity of a man of such surpassing accomplishment is a reminder of our culture's surpassing superficiality. Reading Walter Isaacson's terrific biography of Albert Einstein, I was struck by how famous Einstein was, long before his role in the atom bomb.
Great scientists and humanitarians were once heroes and cover boys. No more.
For Borlaug, still vital at 93, to win more notice,
he would have to make his next trip to Africa in the company of Angelina Jolie.
It's too bad that *trivialities* are the main focus (these days),
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WordWolf
Wow.
Norman Borlaug is made of win.
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dmiller
It's too bad that *trivialities* are the main focus (these days),
instead of accomplishments such as he has done.
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smarter
Wierwille was unworthy to hold this man's jock.
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krys
You're right! And that's a terrible shame.
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