Lament for a farmers son

The McPherson Sentinel Sept. 16, 2009

Two people died of cancer this week that are in the news. One was a Nobel Laureate who literally saved the lives of millions of people across the planet. The other adamantly rejected the idea of baby being put in a corner. Guess whos getting more coverage? Make no mistake, Patrick Swayzes death Monday is a tragedy, and he faced pancreatic cancer with a grace and dignity that surely gave people hope and inspiration. This is worthy of note and honor. However, plant pathologist and geneticist Norman E. Borlaug saved an estimated 245 million lives through redefining what it means to grow food. Let me repeat that figure, 245 million lives - by him. The son of an Iowa farmer who grew up in the Great Depression, Borlaug developed high-yield, disease resistant varieties of wheat. He was called, with all seriousness, the greatest human being who ever lived. Among his plethora of awards are the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, the Aztec Eagle from the Government of Mexico, election to the National Academy of Science, two institutions bearing his name at Texas A&M University and numerous other international awards. He was virtually unknown in his own country, but when he went abroad, he was usually met by weeping, thankful crowds. Swayze, on the other hand, was nominated for three Golden Globes and was named People Magazines Sexiest Man Alive in 1991. Does this make him a failure? No. Does this make him less of a man compared to Borlaug? No. However, does it make us a tad shallower as a culture for paying more attention to Swayzes death over Borlaug? Yes...yes it does. Borlaug didnt get the multi-day CNN retrospective or black banner on its website. There wont be extensive interviews with scientists Borlaug worked with, like there currently are with every Hollywood star Swayze shared the screen with. The media wont decamp en-masse to interview the people who got to, and continue to, eat because of his pioneering work, but they will find people who enjoyed seeing Dirty Dancing or Ghost. Heck, maybe even the Righteous Brothers might get some extended airplay. In fact, Borlaug, who was getting some press after the announcement of his death from cancer, was virtually swept off the screen in favor of Swayze. Norman who? So whats the lesson here? Study hard, go to school, care about your species, save millions of lives, get so many awards youll have to build a new wing of your home to put them in and maybe you too will be ignored in favor of a dead celebrity someday? We have an odd worship of these people that Hollywood puts out. An entire industry developed that tracks their every waking moment. Entertainment news, which is frequently neither entertaining nor news, saturates the media. Whos fat? Whos thin? Whos being intimate with whom? Who broke up with who and why? Whos gay? Who might be gay? Whos imploding? Whos hot? Whos not? Honestly, who cares? What kind of person obsesses over this trivia regarding people theyll never be that close to? Why does this matter?

Theyre just people that get paid millions of dollars to play make believe for a mass audience. Are they talented, dedicated individuals? Yes. Are they divine, untouchable people whose lives need to be endlessly chronicled? No. Borlaug wasnt divine, but he did divine things. His work mattered more than Swayzes, and I dont think Id be out of line in suggesting Swayze would agree with that assessment, were he still here. So, well just add Borlaug to the list of world changers that got their 15 minutes of post-mortem fame, but deserved far more names like Richard Feynman, Vannevar Bush, Max Faget, Sergey Korolyov, Andrei Sakharov, etc. Meanwhile, were still covering Michael Jacksons death, now months old. Swayze probably wont get that kind of shelf life though, but I see a lot of Dirty Dancing broadcasts in the near future. However, the next time youre making a sandwich, think of Borlaug, who once said, You can't build a peaceful world on empty stomachs and human misery. For 245 million lives, he deserves at least that much.