PAST HEROES CAN HELP US
Why I Wrote and Published "Anthony and the Magic Picture Frame"
By Michael S. Class
Article Published In: Personal Excellence Magazine, April 2006
Do you recall how you felt when Apollo 11 landed on the moon? Do you remember a powerful sense of anticipation and pride when President Ronald Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate and demanded, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
These events are more than just history to you - they are part of your life experience. In these cases, facts and emotions combine, providing you with a multi-sensory lesson. A lesson of history that will always be part of you, something you can call upon when needed.
You’re about to take on a major challenge and Neil Armstrong’s words fill your head and boost your confidence: “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.” You’re addressing your elected representatives at a town hall meeting, demanding redress for an injustice or their support for a new law. People told you that you “can’t fight city hall,” but you know that you can: Your inner voice cries out, “Councilman Smith, tear down this wall!”
Look at your children, look at the chaotic time in which they live, consider the challenges they will likely face, and ask yourself: What are the lessons of history that will prepare them for their future? How do we teach those lessons? It’s our duty to recognize the lessons of history and point them out to our kids.
I wondered: What would the heroes of America’s past say to the children of today?
I started a new publishing company, Magic Picture Frame Studio, to transform the way children learn American history - and the lessons from it. My company’s first release is a museum-quality book, Anthony and the Magic Picture Frame, in which a modern boy, my real-life son, Anthony, time-travels into the great events of the 20th century. Digital photographic “magic” places Anthony in the cockpit of the Spirit of St. Louis with Charles Lindbergh, on the moon with Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, in the laboratories of Thomas Edison and Jonas Salk, and on Normandy beach on D-Day. It looks as though Anthony really did meet Thomas Edison, Jonas Salk, FDR, Lou Gehrig, Charles Lindbergh, and Audie Murphy. And it’s all historically accurate: Even Anthony’s conversations with America’s heroes are based on things they really said.
But it wasn’t enough to have just Anthony experience the past. I wanted all of my readers to experience it, too - young readers so they would discover and learn, and adults so they would remember. So, I included a list of hundreds of books, movies, music, and places to visit. The list is a built-in “time machine” that readers can use to see, hear, and experience the things that Anthony did in the past. The list provides that multi-sensory experience that fosters learning.
While writing and photographing the book, I spoke with relatives of famous scientists and inventors, Holocaust survivors, award-winning biographers, and others who could help me ensure that the facts of the book were both accurate and vivid. I was going beyond history: I was going to present the lessons of history, and those lessons had to rest on a firm foundation of fact.
The chapter about Lindbergh’s flight is really about choosing one’s destiny. The story of Lou Gehrig is one of a virtuous life. The chapter about Thomas Edison is really about business. The story of Apollo 11 is about wonder, taking risks, and courage. The story of Dr. Jonas Salk and the cure for polio is really about dedicating one’s life to a higher purpose. When Anthony “meets” his immigrant great-grandfather at Ellis Island in 1907, it’s really a story about what it means to be an American. Anthony’s observation of D-Day and the liberation of the death camps during the Holocaust is a testament to the reality of evil and the need to fight it.
It's not an easy book. The book challenges the reader to see the modern world in the light of the lessons of the past. Anthony compares the people and events of the past with the people and events of his own time. Anthony discusses the nature of good and evil, right and wrong, war and peace, what it means to be an American, honor and discipline, success and achievement, courage and destiny, marriage and family, God and purpose.
My purpose was to let the heroes of the past speak directly to America’s next generation through Anthony. Along with Anthony, I learned that the heroes of the past really do have something important to tell us: "The purpose of life is to live a life of purpose. One person really can make a difference. Doing the right thing always matters."
I began to wonder how I, and my children, could model portions of our lives after these heroes. What enabled them to put these sentiments into action? What did they have in common that led to their ability to change history? What made them great?
Here, in the words of just five of those 20th century heroes, are the main insights that occurred to me. I’ve phrased them in the form of resolutions - five life lessons I try to follow:
