BY JULIE WIATT

David Steele: “There are people I admire on different levels. I admire the executive director of our office. He’s a lawyer and, besides the housing work, he does a lot of pro bono work for disabled people. I also like the book Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle, so I admire him. The third one is a politician; I really like Dennis Kucinich. He’s an unassuming guy, but he’s consistently plugging along.”

Ben Lockwood: "I look up to my brother Max, 'cause he's cool. He's the person people who want to be cool hang out with."

Dorothy Nelson: "Two people come to mind. The first person is Nelson Mandela, because of his extraordinary understanding of the need to compromise. How can I say anything about Nelson Mandela in one sentence? Not compromise in a negative way, but to negotiate differences. The second person is Wangari Maathai, from Kenya, who won a Nobel Peace prize in 2004 for planting trees. She made the connection between the possibility of ending war and taking care of the environment."

Sarah Richards (with Ieuan): “This is going to sound politically incorrect, but I admire Martha Stewart. She has turned housework and domesticity into a multimillion dollar business. Because I’m home with my son now I just say, ‘Wow’.”

Sherri Collins: “My answer would just be my Mom. She’s just an amazing woman: calm, patient, helpful, extremely helpful.”

Danny Chase: Mohammed Ali. He stood up for his beliefs. And he was originator of trash talking. He could do it and back it up. Most people can’t do that.”

Wallace Boyd: "Maxine Waters, the congresswoman from California, because she has been a very loud and clear voice against small-minded political thinking. She has been an unabashed champion of black folk, actually of everybody in the country. She doesn't sugar coat, doesn't find nice ways to say things. She tells the truth."

Joe Byrne [at left, with Kuan Yi]: “I admire Aung San Suu Kyi. She’s a Burmese activist, the head of a democratic political party in Burma. She won the election about ten years ago. Then the military had a coup and she was imprisoned. She won the Nobel Peace Prize while imprisoned. They let her out about a year ago, but then she was rearrested. She’s a serious meditator in the Vipassana tradition.”