Georgia O’Keeffe, Chris Farley, Orson Welles, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. These might be local names you’re well familiar with, but how about the Beatles, Joni Mitchell or Jackie Robinson?
Wisconsin Idols: 100 Heroes Who Changed the State, the World, and Me, a new book by journalist and author Dean Robbins, explores intriguing true tales of legends and trailblazers with special — and even surprising — connections to the Badger State.
From the famous to the little-known, Robbins hopes readers can appreciate how Wisconsin has been a crossroads for people who have changed the world. He’ll be in Milwaukee this week for a book event and shares more about his latest project.
"I always had a strong interest in getting other people to [become] emotionally invested in [my heroes], too," says Robbins. "I always wanted my heroes to become your heroes, and the best way to do that is through storytelling. So, when I grew up, I became a journalist and a children's author, and now the author of Wisconsin Idols."
The book covers 100 individuals who are adored by Robbins, lived in or had other connections to Wisconsin, and are considered transformative figures.
Hattie McDaniel
While touring in Milwaukee in 1929, the stock market crashed and McDaniel suddenly found herself without a job. She found work as a washroom attendant for a club and was asked to sing when the expected performer didn't show up.
"She sang a knock-'em-dead version of 'Saint Louis Blues.' And suddenly she was the star of the show. So, she starred there for two years, and patrons would say, 'Why are you still in Milwaukee? Why aren't you in Hollywood?' And she started to think that same way herself," explains Robbins.
She'd move to Hollywood and would later become the first Black woman to win an Academy Award.
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford was a student at Ripon College in the early 1960s. He was doing well in his studies there. Robbins says, "In his last quarter, he knew he wasn't going to graduate. And he thought, 'What the heck, I'm going to try to get over my stage fright and take a theater class.' ... and he loved it, and he thought he finally found his vocation."
Jim Lovell
On the Apollo 13 mission, astronaut Jim Lovell and his crewmates avoided potential disaster after one of the craft's tanks exploded.
"So, I was interested in hearing the story and asking how he developed the extraordinary courage that allowed him to think fast and weather something like that without panicking," says Robbins. "He said, 'Well, I was the only child of a single mother in Milwaukee in the 1930s. She was always at work, and I was left home by myself. So, I had to develop the quality of self-reliance. And I think that's where it all came from.'"
The Chordettes
"They were a vocal quartet from Sheboygan, four friends with these lacquered Andrews Sisters hairstyles. And they sang 'Mr. Sandman,' which became a huge hit," explains Robbins. "They changed with the times and recorded their second huge hit called 'Lollipop,' which got them on American Bandstand ... they called it quits in 1964, but still one of the greatest things to ever come out of Sheboygan."
Joni Mitchell
Mitchell came to Madison as part of her 1976 tour. While breaking up with her boyfriend, a historic ice storm occurred that hit her hotel off the shore of Lake Mendota.
"Joni, the artist she was, felt the call of the icy white void. So, she went down to State Street in Madison and bought a pair of black men's hockey skates. She had a photographer with her. She jumped onto the frozen ice on Lake Mendota and had the photographer snap photos," says Robbins.
"It inspired the songs on her next mysterious album called Hejira. And she used the images on the album jacket, which Rolling Stone picked as one of the greatest of all time."
Kit Saunders-Nordeen
Robbins says, "She was a coordinator of women's club sports in the 1960s and early '70s, and she was there when the Title IX program was instituted, which allowed for equality for women in all sorts of areas, including collegiate women's sports. ... She rose to the occasion, and she jumped over every bureaucratic and personal hurdle, and she managed to establish a women's sports program that became one of the envies of the nation."
Robbins hopes that this book inspires more people to leave an impact on the world. "We're at a time when we're really in need of heroic role models. We're so often confronted with the worst that people can be. I hope Wisconsin Idols shows us the best we can be."
Dean Robbins will be at Boswell Book Company on April 23 at 6:30 p.m. to share more about his book, Wisconsin Idols. You can find more information on the event here.
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