18 Distinguished Men and Women Talk About Who Inspire Them Most

What better time of year to say thanks? Here, a group of distinguished men and women talk about who has inspired them most.

Contributing writers: Lois Cahall, Margaret Heffernan, Alanna Nash

From Reader's Digest

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Reeve never gave up hope, says his children Matthew and Alexandra, who are both board members of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

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Photographed by Melanie Dunea/CPI

Investigative journalist Brenner (right), whose latest book is Apples & Oranges, received valuable career advice from Cooper.

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Photographed by Melanie Dunea/CPI

Thomas-EL (left), now principal of Russell Byers Charter School in Philadelphia, with devoted teacher Pincus.

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Joy Glenn

Brown and Berra earlier this year.

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Baseball great Mays in the 1950s.

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Photographed by Ken Regan/Camera 5

Reeve never gave up hope, says his children Matthew and Alexandra, who are both board members of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

In the spirit of the season, we honor those whose wise words, kind acts, and good humor have changed our lives.

Alexandra and Matthew Reeve on their father, actor Christopher Reeve

Alexandra: Dad had always been a very active person, strong and self-disciplined, and that continued after his horseback-riding accident in 1995 [which paralyzed him from the neck down; he died in 2004]. He made physical rehab his new goal. He said, "If the scientists are going to do their job, I'm going to be ready when they come to me." That gave him a focus. He wanted to help the millions of other people in America who were living with paralysis, plus many more worldwide. He knew they didn't have the resources he did, the best help available, the best therapies, the best equipment. He wanted to change all that. He was always hopeful.

Matthew: With today's technology, the littlest extra movement can result in more independence. Dad was working on it. Moving his finger was the first encouraging sign. That happened five and a half years after he was paralyzed. He was even getting some mobility in one of his arms. He reminded us that things can change at any moment, for better or worse. So value what you have. Be grateful. Live in the moment. Dad was dealt a severe blow and yet was determined that that would not be the end of his story. He tried extraordinarily hard to make things better.

Alexandra: Never give up or stop fighting for what you believe in-that's what we've taken from Dad.

Playwright Eve Ensler on actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward*

Here's what Paul Newman and [his wife] Joanne Woodward gave me and, I suspect, many others in the world: the gift of confidence.

They were the perfect parents.

I was 23. I was depressed and fragile and hardly here in this world. I was writing as a way of survival. They took me under their wing. They pushed me and fed me and criticized my scripts with red pencils. They nurtured me and encouraged me to be funny, to always be funny. Mainly, they believed in me. Because of this, I came to believe in myself.

They never asked for credit. They did not hold on after I had found myself. They did not curtail my independence. They reappeared at crucial moments in my life in the many years that followed. They were always in my corner.

Here's what they taught me: generosity. They taught me that if you have or make money, you are not special, just lucky. They taught me to never make people beg or jump through hoops, because that implies you have a hoop. You do not have a hoop; you have money.

They taught me that the only real happiness comes from giving. And because the two of them lived everything they spoke, they taught me about integrity.

I can't imagine this world without Paul Newman [he died this past September]. But I know his generosity, his gift of confidence, lives in many of us, and if there is a way to appreciate him, it is in giving deeper and deeper.

*COPYRIGHT © 2008 BY EVE ENSLER. FROM HUFFINGTON POST.COM (SEPTEMBER 28, 2008). THE HUFFINGTON POST, 560 BROADWAY, SUITE 308, NEW YORK, NY 10012

Singer Martina McBride on poet Maya Angelou

I've had the chance to meet many astonishing people I never dreamed of knowing when I was growing up on a dairy farm in Kansas. But few have inspired me as much as Maya Angelou.

Maya affects me deeply when I read her writing, but she touches me most of all when I hear her speak. Her voice is so rich and commanding; she has such peace and wisdom. You see someone who isn't perfect-someone who has struggled. There's a video of her reciting her poem "Still I Rise," about the nobleness of the human spirit. To see and hear her do it-to watch her say, "I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide/Welling and swelling I bear in the tide"-that's very powerful. I showed it to my daughters Delaney and Emma, and they loved it as much as I do.

One time when I was talking with Maya, she asked me why I didn't write songs. I didn't have a good answer for that. Maya said that sometimes we're afraid to push ourselves, to really reach as far as we can, because we're afraid that when we succeed, the world will ask more of us. That statement stunned me. It made me realize I just needed to go for it. So I'm proud to say I cowrote three songs on my 2007 album, Waking Up Laughing.

Maya opened my eyes to the power of my words. I now take care to use words wisely and with integrity.

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