Ted Turner
Last Best News was barely a week old when I ran my review of Todd Wilkinson’s biography of Ted Turner.
A year later I find myself thinking of Turner on a regular basis, having learned from Wilkinson, who lives in Bozeman, what a huge variety of important projects Turner is deeply involved in. If I had a Christmas wish for the whole world this year, it would be that Turner has a very, very long life.
Whether or not you’ve read the book yet, check out this revealing interview of Wilkinson by Marc Bekoff, a writer and evolutionary biologist. The lengthy interview was published by Psychology Today and touches on many of the most interesting parts of Wilkinson’s book.
Here, for example, is part of Wilkinson’s response to a question about Turner’s reputation as a rather difficult person:
But as we know from knowing and reading about historic figures, including the late Steve Jobs, people involved with game-changing advancements in the world aren’t always completely likable. I’d note that the Founding Fathers of this country were prickly. And far from perfect, they were complicated souls full of contradictions.
But that’s what makes them interesting and in some ways, more compelling. We don’t judge them on their personality flaws; we remember them for what they accomplished—the virtues that defined them when everything was on the line.
And here’s one more observation from Wilkinson that might prove surprising:
Turner operates fundamentally from the mindset of an underdog—of trying to prove wrong those who sell him short. And a driving emotion for him is empathy to those—humans and animals—that suffer. As Jane Fonda told me, “Ted is the survivor of a very traumatic and brutal childhood laid down at the hands of his father who committed suicide. Ted’s bond with nature, his desire to save wildlife and help other human beings is really an attempt to save himself.
