CarouselOfLifeVille
....Bigger Now Than Ever?
I first learned of him was when I saw a smug and smirking TV anchor dismiss him as a fool while he worked like a demon to raise the meagre funds he needed just to get to the Atlantic Coast so that he could dip that artificial leg in the ocean.
But there was no stopping Mr. Fox, and within a few weeks many came to know his perserverance and his courage.
And by the time he got to Ontario his great, good heart was on display for all to see.
And then there was the tremendous dignity with which he died.
And thus was born perhaps Canada's greatest ever Horatio Alger story ever.
But once born something extra has to happen to turn a mere story into a legend that inspires future generations even further.
One of those extras is the Fox Foundation itself, which has been the model of integrity since its inception.
Another is the myth makers, folks like Douglas Coupland, who have helped keep the story alive (and in this case I mean that in a good way).
And then there is his family, individual members of which have consistently displayed many of the qualities of the boy himself. Like his mom Betty, for instance. When you hear her speak it is like that Marathon of Hope is still happening, right now.
But there is something else that you rarely hear about that may be as important as all of that, at least in the long run.
And it is something you very rarely hear about from the corporate shills, even amongst those who work hardest to never show their smirks or smugness in public.
That secret was inadvertently revealed late last week when an editor-type showed up on Michael Smyth's radio show to pump up the volume for the Vancouver Province's wall-to-wall Fox coverage this weekend.
Then they took calls, one of which was from an old-timer who had a tangential part in the original Marathon who said something that invoked a stunned silence from the host.
And that is the fact that the annual Terry Fox Run has never been brought to you by a bank, or an airline, or a running shoe company, or a make-up maven, or a media conglomerate.
To his great credit, the editor guy jumped in and pointed out that this is not an accident and that it was actually something that Fox himself insisted on from the very beginning.
Which is very likely another example of the kid's guts and his bedrock moral compass but, if you think about it, is also pure genius on a whole lot of levels.
Not the least of which is the fact that it ensures that no corporation will ever be able to attach itself like a leach to the Fox Run so that it can suck the life out of it before it moves on to next year's latest thing.
Case in point - when millions of kids run around their school to raise money for cancer research in 2010, do you seriously think any of them will be wearing one of those brightly coloured wristbands that are so popular today?
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