This is rather difficult to narrow into just the one choice. There are plenty of people who have had a tremendous impact on my life and how I do things - my parents cheif among them. For this post though, I'll focus on two people; two heroes of mine in different ways. They are Michael Burrin and Joe Strummer.
Joe first.
I'm rather gutted with myself that it took me nearly 6 years after Joe's death in 2002 to really realise who he was and how much of an impact he was to have on my way of thinking and on life. He is and will remain for a long time an inspiration to me on so many levels. Firstly, there's the fact that he was one quarter of my favourite band of all time, The Clash. The man responsible for nearly all the fantastic lyrics and heart-on-sleeve vocals that make up such a big part of the band. You only need to watch one live Clash tape to see that, though technically he couldn't sing that well, he was a fantastic frontman, completly lost in the energy and madness of the music his band were playing. But the guy behind that is just as inspiring. An everyman who allowed fans to mingle with the band after shows and geniunely enjoyed chatting to the everyday fans and was fascinated by the little things in life, his atttitude to life and work is just awe-inspiring. In every Clash and Strummer biopic I've read or seen (and believe me, I've read and seen a lot), it comes across so effortlessly just how humble and big-hearted ol' Joe was, and how he seemed to be everyone's best friend without even trying. His open-mindedness should be a lesson to everyone, and certainly taught me that there is a lot more to music than just rock 'n' roll - inspired by him I wound up getting into reggae, ska, dub, and many other types of music I just would've turned my nose up at before.
And now to Mike.
(I know, I know, I already used this one before, but hell, it's such a lovely photo I fancied using it again :) Mike is the figure on the right.) Mike is my other biggest hero, which sounds weird as he is a direct friend of mine rather than a legendary figure like Joe. But in terms of inspiration, admiration and just being the best company anybody could ask for in a friend, Mike is just as much of a legend as Joe or anyone else.
He's actually the sort of person I wish I could've known for most of my life, because the things he has taught me and done for me over the year and half or more of knowing him have been invaluable to me. After years of being made to feel uncomfortable in my own skin, be it by actions of my own or other people, it's so refreshing for someone to not only make me feel completly at ease with myself and have so much patience to listen to me and help me out when I need it, but to help me discover myself a bit more, and ditch the bad habits of yore behind. Obviously this is all before I get on to mentioning how much of a creative talent he is, in whatever field he chooses, be it music, art, photography, film, or anything else, and how he is just the most easily likeable person you are likely to meet. A great friend and a geniune hero of mine :)
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