Carolyn Hunter
“The T. A. Barron Podcast.”

T. A. Barron
Today we’re going to talk about heroes.

Carolyn Hunter
So all of your books, fiction and nonfiction, focus on heroic young people. Why is that?

T. A. Barron
That’s an important question. Another way to say it is, why do heroes matter at all? Especially to young people.

Carolyn Hunter
Right.

T. A. Barron
Well, to start with, our society is seriously confused about the difference between a hero and a celebrity. What I mean by that is celebrities are all around us. We see them in media all the time, and we celebrate them, and we talk about them, and we focus on them a lot. But true heroes are different. Celebrities are about being well known, but heroes are about character. They may be well known, but more likely not well known. In fact, heroes do what they do, regardless of whether anybody else ever notices. So the distinction is crucial between a hero and a celebrity. And I think more than ever, it’s important for young people to discover that.

Carolyn Hunter
So important.

T. A. Barron
Making matters worse, too many young people feel powerless today, even despairing, when the problems of the world bear down on them, problems that they are inheriting. I can totally understand why the weight of that would feel a gigantic burden. But we can’t allow that to turn into powerlessness, because then the problems will only grow worse.

Carolyn Hunter
I agree. So, what do we do about that?

T. A. Barron
Let me tell you a story that really changed my life. And it happened in Ohio, oh I don’t know, 20 years ago, when I was on a book tour. I was speaking at a high school. I spoke to the whole school in the gymnasium. As usual, I took people on a tour of the heroes’ journeys that I’ve written, mythic tales of young Merlin or young Kate, or the idea that young people could truly save the universe in so many different ways. And we had a wonderful time. And at the end, a couple of dozen kids came up to me, and we had some fun exchanges. There was one girl in that group who hung back, and when everybody else had left, she walked up to me, steely eyed and arms crossed, and she said, “Hey, I get it. I know how things really work, so you can’t fool me.” I looked at her and said, “What?” She replied, “Heroes aren’t real. All these stories you tell about young heroes and whatever universe who saved their world, they save everybody. They save everything. The truth is, that only happens in fairy tales. It never happens in the real world.” And then she turned around and walked away.

I was stunned by that level of cynicism and despair, and I thought a lot about her. Throughout the whole rest of my book tour, that girl was very much on my mind. And I remember thinking, all of us need our heroes. I’ve always felt that way. And in a way, I feel like we need them more than ever today, even in this increasingly cynical age, because heroes give us an idea of our own potential. I think of heroes as our guides on the trail of life. They show us just how far we can go and just how high we can climb. Plus, there are heroes all around us. In quiet ways, people are holding the world together by their courage and compassion, perseverance, and hope, all the qualities of a hero. I kept on thinking about that and thinking, how could I possibly reach that girl? And more than that, what I want her to understand is that heroes are just like the rest of us. They are the rest of us. Because every hero discovers that they have something deep inside themselves, something that they didn’t even know was there when times really get tough. They dig deep and find in their hearts the courage, the wisdom, the vision, the perseverance, whatever it takes to survive and ultimately to triumph. So, it’s part of my core belief that there’s a hero in all of us, a hero in every child. A potential, a force, a positive energy with the capacity to do something special with their life. Everyone has that potential.

Just like that boy who washed ashore on the very first page of my Merlin books. The boy who had no memory at all of who he is or where he came from, who his parents were, not even his own name, and yet had down inside, that spark, that magic which grows into the magic of the wizard Merlin. Well, it’s only a metaphor, really, for the possibility that every person has, every child has.

The problem is, too many kids like that girl in Ohio just don’t believe it. They view themselves as powerless, as helpless in the face of these growing problems. Well, what could I possibly do that might help? Finally, I realized that what that girl and other young people like her most needed was not more fantasy novels from people like me, although they can help, and not more inspirational lectures or sermons or speeches from adults, that’s for sure. What that girl really needed was stories about real life young people, kids who faced really difficult challenges and still persevered. So, I shelved the novel I was working on and started a whole new nonfiction book, The Hero’s Trail. This book contains over 100 stories about kids from all backgrounds and descriptions, all of whom have found themselves washed ashore in a certain way in their own lives, and all of whom dug deep and found courage, perseverance, generosity, compassion, hope, faith, humor, the willingness to get up and go on. These kids are far more impressive, honestly, than any of the fictional heroes that I’ve ever written about. And they are real.

And so my goal with The Hero’s Trail was honestly just to get out of the way as an author and simply let those stories speak for themselves. So, my greatest hope is that by sharing these stories, the inspiration and the possibilities will shine through for any young person, even that girl in Ohio.

Carolyn Hunter
Can you pick just one of the stories in the book and share that with us?

T. A. Barron
Just one? [Laughter]

Carolyn Hunter
Yes.

T. A. Barron
All right. I will pick one, and it’s one of my favorites. It happens to be about a person whose name you might know. But most of the stories in this book are about young people whose names you’ve never heard of. This is the story of a girl named Wilma Rudolph. She was born in rural Tennessee in a poor Black family, as the 20th child in the family. Little Wilma faced poverty and racism right from the very start. But that wasn’t all. As a toddler, she was struck by three ravaging diseases. She caught scarlet fever, pneumonia, and polio. The polio left one of her legs so weak and twisted, it had almost no muscle at all, and it was practically certain it could never hold her weight. Wilma seemed destined never to walk. In fact, a rural doctor advised her mother that the best thing possible was to amputate Wilma’s leg. Wilma and her mom refused that, but instead, they found a heavy brace that Wilma could use to stand. But she was told that was all she could ever do.

However, Wilma had other ideas.

Sometimes during the day, she would take off the brace and try to put weight on her leg. She would also exercise. And bit by bit, she grew stronger. And one day, she went to the door of their house when her mom was out hanging laundry, and she said, “Mama, look.” Then Wilma unbuckled the brace, let it fall to the side, and haltingly, she took one step and then another and then another, and walked over to her mother and then collapsed in her mother’s arms. Now, that was a very big victory. But, you know, for Wilma, it was only the beginning. She wanted to run like other kids could run. And so she started training herself running, and she got stronger and faster. And by the time she was in high school, Wilma was beginning to win races. And finally, she was so fast that she won a scholarship to Tennessee State University to run track. And she qualified for the 1960 Olympic Games. And in those games, she won three Olympic gold medals and was the fastest woman in the world.

Carolyn Hunter
Whoa.

T. A. Barron
This was a kid who had polio and was too weak to walk. But she had something else, didn’t she? She had courage, she had faith, and she had perseverance.

Carolyn Hunter
I think the girl in Ohio would like that story.

T. A. Barron
I hope so.

Carolyn Hunter
In addition to The Hero’s Trail, you also started a prize for heroic kids. Can you tell us about that?

T. A. Barron
Sure. You’re quite right. I finished that book, and I realized, this isn’t enough. I really want to find a way to turn the spotlight on real life, heroic kids who are living right now. So, I founded the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. This prize honors 25 young people every year from all kinds of diverse backgrounds who share just one thing in common. And that is they have found a way to make a difference, to make the world a better place. These kids really are inspirational. Whenever I feel really upset or troubled by the world, which is all too easy these days, I just read the bios of some of these young people who have won the Barron Prize, and it rekindles my hope. They’re incredible.

Carolyn Hunter
So who’s Gloria Barron?

T. A. Barron
[Laughter] She’s my mother.

Carolyn Hunter
Why did you name the prize after her?

T. A. Barron
Well, honestly, I had two reasons. One was, I never missed a chance to embarrass her throughout her entire life. I got very good at that, actually. [Laughter] But the most important reason was I wanted to make this prize about honoring those quiet, unsung heroes, the people who really, truly hold our world together. And my mother was that kind of person. She never sought fame. She simply lived the life of a teacher and a mom, someone who cared deeply about our kids and our community. And one of the wonderful things about her was she was always learning. Literally the day before she died, when I was with her at age 92, she was chuckling when I walked in because she had just learned a new word, origin. She was just so thrilled to learn the origin of the word spittoon. So, this great old gal never lost her childlike sense of wonder and curiosity.

One of the best things she ever did was during her time at the Colorado School for the Blind, she founded a museum that is about nature, but it is entirely to be touched. Blind kids can experience the grandeur of an Eagle by touching those huge, wide, expansive wings. And at the same time, they can reach over and touch a hummingbird’s, delicate, small wings. They can slip their fingers into a polar bear’s rich, soft fur, a polar bear that’s probably twice as tall as they are. Alas, her nature museum isn’t there anymore. But the point of it always was to give young people, even young people who didn’t have vision, the ability to experience the beauty and wonder of the natural world. That’s all my mother really wanted, and that’s what she accomplished. That’s the kind of quiet heroism that countless parents, teachers, and kids everywhere show. And that’s what I wanted the prize to represent.

Carolyn Hunter
You can really tell that this is important to you, with your prize, and all of your books.

T. A. Barron
It’s true. I confess. [Laughter] I genuinely believe that all of us have a power down inside, and it starts with the power to make choices. You know, the simple things. What do we do with our time? What do we care about? How do we treat others? All of these are choices that we make every day. And in a way, our choices become our footsteps on the trail of life. So, who knows? Maybe the trail we walk will be a hero’s trail.

Carolyn Hunter
So, coming back to that girl in Ohio, what would your wish be for her?

T. A. Barron
Here’s my wish. I would look her right in the eye and say, “You know what? You are a package of possibilities. You have a potential energy and power in the world. What will you use that power for? Now, you may not believe that. In fact, you might think that is the craziest idea ever but I’m telling you, it’s true. Deeply true.”

[Music]

T. A. Barron
In our next two episodes we will meet four young people who have won the Barron Prize for Young Heroes and they’ll talk about why they did what they did and how it’s made a difference to others and to themselves. One of them founded a school in Africa. One of them installed solar panels throughout her entire community in Montana. One of them founded a group called Change the World Kids that has helped tropical songbirds throughout Central America and one of them founded an organization in New York City called Garden Angels that was about much more than gardens. It was really about saving other kids’ lives. I really can’t wait to talk with these inspirational young people and I hope you’ll join us.

To everyone out there. Let me just say thank you so much for joining us for “Magic & Mountains.” We’ll see you next week. And in the meantime, may you have magical days.

Carolyn Hunter
We hope you enjoyed this week’s episode of “Magic & Mountains: The T. A. Barron Podcast.” Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a five-star review, and share this podcast with your family and friends. For more information and to find all of T. A.’s books, visit TABarron.com. Have a magical week.