One of the best speakers I have ever had to the opportunity to befriend is the late Charlton Heston. I seem to have been blessed to meet an eclectic group of people in my lifetime that I could call friends.
Some of these men and women are controversial, all influential, but all genuine. Mr. Heston was like that to me. This weekend I also mourn a great uncle on my wife’s side of the family that passed away. I only spoke to him twice, but the last time was the most memorable as he shared some private stuff with me that made me like him as a man. Not everyone that is on television or in the movies is worth a damn. Some are just playing themselves, getting overpaid for it (In My Honest Opinion) and believe their own press clippings. Mr. Heston showed me a real guy that had gone through life not only imitating historical figures but learning from them as well.
The first time I met him, I was receiving an award for my work in the urban community to explain and defend the right to keep and bear arms to a sometimes hostile audience from the NRA. Mr. Heston looked like a man weathered by longevity, politics and the past. But that was only until he walked toward the microphone and into the light of the stage. Like Clark Kent, transforming into Superman, this old thespian straightened his back, lifted his head and spoke with the same authority as the Cecil B. DeMills' Moses from Mount Sinai. I don’t know if he had memorized his lines or ad-libbed but it was one of those moving, and motivating speeches that kept him president of the National Rifle Association for as long as it did. The old dude was cool.
The first time I met him, I was receiving an award for my work in the urban community to explain and defend the right to keep and bear arms to a sometimes hostile audience from the NRA. Mr. Heston looked like a man weathered by longevity, politics and the past. But that was only until he walked toward the microphone and into the light of the stage. Like Clark Kent, transforming into Superman, this old thespian straightened his back, lifted his head and spoke with the same authority as the Cecil B. DeMills' Moses from Mount Sinai. I don’t know if he had memorized his lines or ad-libbed but it was one of those moving, and motivating speeches that kept him president of the National Rifle Association for as long as it did. The old dude was cool.
As I geez, I hope somebody says at least that, about me when it's my turn. Yes, he said some fiery stuff on occasion, irked people like Michael Moore and even scared the NRA when he spoke his mind, but I respect a man that isn’t out to please everybody. I respect a person that is not politically correct but passionate. I respected Mr. Charlton Heston. And he will be missed but never forgotten.
Rest in peace bro, till we meet again on the other side.
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