LeBron James is a basketball legend, despite a terrible start in life. His education was disrupted because he and his mother were effectively homeless — but, thanks to a number of mentors, he surmounted his difficulties, and built a great life for himself.
Now, he is paying it forward, and is the mentor in the lives of 240 disadvantaged kids in his home town. Only a year ago, he established a school. The kids’ academic performance, as measured by a standardised test, has risen from hopeless to excellent, and still rising.
If you have read my Hit and Run, you will see that LeBron is a real life Aunt Sylvia. (If you haven’t yet read Hit and Run, hurry up and do so!) In my fictionalised autobiography, Ascending Spiral I refer to a number of “angels,” including my school principal, who set my hero’s life on a good path.
Thank you, Mr. James, for being an angel.
