I was going to write about the much-maligned Elon Musk, the one true genius populating the planet in this disintegrating day and age of ours, but I stumbled upon a YouTube video of Pat Boone singing “The Impossible Dream” accompanied by the Concordia University Symphony Orchestra.
The event took place a the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Orange County, California, to celebrate what would have been the 100th birthday of concert pianist Roger Williams. The photo shows Boone with Roger Williams’ daughter Alice.
Now, many of you have either a faint idea or none at all of who Pat Boone is. Old fart that I am, however, his songs were among the many that I listened to on my transistor radio (look that one up) as I was growing up.
He’s 90 now and still going strong, though he walks with a cane. At my age, I can truly say that anyone reaching 90 and still being able to fully function with just the assistance of a cane is a remarkable achievement. He is clearly still of strong mind and character.
I actually met Pat Boone in the mid-1990s when I was the editor of a newspaper serving the San Gabriel Valley in California. He was performing at a charity event in La Canada, and afterwards I was among the few who were able to meet him backstage (so to speak, since the event took place in an open-air park). At the time, I remembered him from my high school days and just figured, as I conversed with him and listened to him, that he was a nice ol’ has-been with not much going on.
Whoa Nelly! — how superficial, stupid and disrespectful was my impression of him. When I heard him speak at the Concordia event before singing “The Impossible Dream,” I found out how active he still is in many pursuits, even running a record company, which I believe is called Gold Records. As he spoke about his past relationships with people like Roger Williams, who actually performed the song for President Ronald Reagan, a sense of chill went over me as I realized the man’s greatness.
“The Impossible Dream” was President Reagan’s favorite song, and if you listen to the lyrics, you’ll understand why. I also believe the lyrics apply to our much-maligned current president, Donald John Trump. The song was the featured piece in the musical “The Man of La Mancha.” Here are some representative lyrics:
And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star
My apologies to Mr. Boone. Sleepless jerk that I am, I actually — and accidentally — discovered his performance of the song in the wee hour of 2something a.m. I also used the occasion to reflect upon my own life and my own shortcomings, and on how much I have failed to live up to the the lyrics of “The Impssible Dream” and to the undaunting courage and hard work of people like Pat Boone.
We should all chase after windmills as did “The Man of La Marcha.” We all would be “better for this” commitment to “reach the unreachable star,” even if “scorned and covered with scars.”