RICHARD “RICOCHET RICK” MAGILLICUTTY was definitely a thinker. The problem was, one moment he might be thinking about String Theory, and the next about String Cheese. Whatever was on his mind at the moment was exactly that, on his mind for just that moment. Conversation was impossible, as no sooner did he speak then his focus was gone, on to the next tangentially related topic. Magillicutty’s…
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WHILE MOST PEOPLE LACK the courage to follow the germ of an idea wherever it may lead, it was the personal philosophy of Eustace “Up A Tree” Tingleberry never to turn down the chance, though it sometimes got him lost in the outer reaches of his own mental synapses. Still, he’d often be heard to repeat his personal slogan: that he was “always ready to go…
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UNLIKE THE HUMAN METAPHORS profiled thus far in our Pioneers of Creativity series, Mönkhbat “Mollusk Top” Jalair’s unique appearance was neither an auspicious birthmark nor the result of some transcendent and bizarre life experience. He just plain got his head stuck in a seashell. We can’t even pretend the incident in itself reveals a playful curiosity or…
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THE NEXT TIME SOMEONE CALLS YOU mechanical, rigid, and predictable, tell them the story of Mackey “The Machine” MacDonald, considered by some to be among the most prolific creative forces of the nineteenth century. Though we now know him for his super-human productivity, his picture was once used in Webster’s Dictionary to illustrate those very words:…
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AN IMPORTANT ANNIVERSARY COMPELS ME to be this bold. To come right out and ask you, someone I may have never met, to give me, a total stranger, not one but two gifts this holiday season. And I can’t even lie and tell you that it’ll be that easy for you to give them. Sorry to…
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BURFORD “BONEHEAD” HARRIS wasn’t stupid, just a little stubborn. But calcified in his thinking though he might have been, he exemplifies a facet of human creativity that cannot be ignored. And like the stopped clock that’s right twice a day, his inclusion in the Pioneers of Creativity serves to remind us that an idea is…
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SALVATORE “SAINT ELSEWHERE” ELEFANTE may very well be known more widely for his turn-of-the-century invention, spaghetti scissors. Ironically, neither that revolutionary device–nor the Nobel Peace Prize it subsequently won him–have anything to do with his place among the Pioneers of Creativity. Unlike most immigrants to the US late in the nineteenth century, Salvatore didn’t come by choice. Instead, his chronic, on-the-job daydreaming had resulted in…
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KELI LOOKED AROUND HER, and in turning felt the sticky skin on the inside of her elbows peel away from the sides of her calves. That alone made it feel as though she’d sat an entire day sulking, her arms wrapped around her legs. But in reality only a half hour had passed since this…
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FOR “DIAMOND JIM” DIBLEY, everything came easily, at least in the beginning. Back then, in the early days of his career, it was rare to come away from encountering him and not be blinded by his brilliance. In fact those hoping to meet him face to face were often warned to bring along a pair of sunglasses. Better yet was to make…
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WHILE ELBERT “BRICK WALL” WILONSKY was a man of strong opinions, he first earned the nickname not because he was rigid and unchanging in his viewpoints, but because, as a child, he once rode his tricycle straight into a brick wall and boy did it leave a mark. And, as for strong opinions, he hadn’t always held them, and was once as gullible as…
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