Heroes and Hope: Inspirational Themesfor Challenging Times

A treasure trove of stories, practical wisdom and Susan Volkmann’s exquisite art. Heroes and Hope delivers inspiration on every page.

Leon McKinney shares how love, family, and simple but powerfulstories of overcoming great adversity can inspire one to hopefulliving in almost any circumstance.

As a lifelong teacher, high school instrumental and choral director, youth baseball and basketball coach, and adult educator, his keen observations about living joyfully in the middle of the most diffi cult situations are truly uplifting. 90% of his author proceeds will be contributed to H.O.P. E a nonprofi t program dedicated to helping kids pursue education and 10% to other charities of his choice.

Heroes and Hope is an all occasion inspiration for worldweary souls...a joyful confi rmation of the good the world has to offer. Mr. McKinney’s ability to fi nd the humor and happiness in the hard times of life is inspiring!

—Steve Rizzo, Speaker Hall of Fame Inductee,author of Becoming a Humor Being.

This wonderful collection of wisdom and inspiration leads the reader on a journey of rediscovery. In Heroes and Hope, Leon McKinney takes us back to rediscover those timeless principles that have guided individuals to great success and reinspires us with wonderfully positive messages and memories.

—Dr. Rich McBride, Superintendent,North Central Washington

Educational Service DistrictWenatchee, Washington.

A WORK OF HEART ...A TESTAMENT TO HEARTFELT LIVING

www.TendrilPress.com303.696.9227

SELFHELP / Motivational & Inspirational

Book Design & Cover by A J Images, Inc.

Heroes Case CoverREV.indd 1 5/11/10 9:28 AM

HEROES and HOPE

Heroes & Hope Book.indb 1 5/4/10 5:54 PM

The Cover

The cover picture symbolizes far more than initially

meets the eye. After reading author “Skinny” McKinney’s

hope-fi lled stories, you will treasure each detail in the

artistic representations that underscore deep truths re-

vealed in the lives of the heroes you are about to meet.

Susan Volkmann’s captivating cover invites you to open

the book and examine each chapter to fi nd the next key

that opens the door to empowering stories, ideas, tips,

and tools to lead life on higher ground. The combination

of her pictorial illustrations and “Skinny” McKinney’s ver-

bal stardust is sheer magic. Each chapter is a teaching tool

designed by McKinney, an inspirational educator and mo-

tivator, to lead you toward a life centered in hope and joy.

Read, learn, grow, and offer this book as a gift to a friend

in search of hope.


HEROES and HOPE

Inspirirational Themesfor

Challenging Times

Leon E. McKinney

With contributions byPaul Lundborg and Susan Volkmann

Illustrations bySusan Volkmann


Heroes and Hope: Inspirational � emes for Challenging TimesCopyright © 2010 by Leon McKinneyAll Rights Reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Tendril Press and Leon McKinney. e material in this book is furnished for informational use only and is subject to change without notice. Tendril Press assumes no responsibility for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in the documents contained in this book.

Library of Congress Control Number 2010927863ISBN: 978-0-9841543-9-5 Hard Cover

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 First Publishing: 2010Manufactured in the United states of America on acid free paper

Author Photo by: Chris RobertsParsons Photography, www.parsonsphotography.com

Published by Tendril Press™PO Box 441110Aurora, CO 80044303.696.9227

Art Direction, Book and Cover DesignCopyright © 2010. by A J Images, Inc., All Rights Reserved

A. J. Business Design & Publishing Center, Inc.A. J. Images, Inc. Communication [email protected] — 303•696•9227


To “Blue Eyes,”

for all the joy since May 23, 1958.

With thanks, for our children

and grandchildren,

who give us both joy and hope for the future.

And gratitude for such amazing parents,

Harry & Ruby McKinney

for the example of care they displayed

in providing my special-needs sister, Darlene,

such a life of love and devotion.

And to the Creator of All

who provides us with grace upon grace.


Education is the most powerful weapon

which you can useto change the world.

—Nelson Mandela


ContentsAknowledgements ..................................................................................... ix

Introduction .................................................................................................xi

The Stomping BootsWhen Hopes Are Trampled ...................................................................... 1

The Boomerang Principle:Fling Hope into the World ......................................................................11

From Ruts to Rainbows ...........................................................................21

The Three Balloons–Paradigm for a Joyful Day ..............................31

The Battery Charger ..................................................................................43

Humor Beings™ ..........................................................................................53

Life is a Two-Reeler ...................................................................................61

The Treasure M.A.P ....................................................................................69

The Butterfl y Concept .............................................................................83

The Apple or the Whip? ...........................................................................95

Be a Good Looker ...................................................................................101

The Gift .......................................................................................................109


HEROES and HOPE

viii

The True Friend .........................................................................................119

Heroes: Four Who Wheel with Hope ................................................129

Verbal Stardust .........................................................................................145

The Legacy ..................................................................................................161

The Final Resting Place ..........................................................................171

Conclusion ................................................................................................179


Acknowledgements:

To the synergy and mystery of the “team” work.

Particularly to Paul Lundborg and Susan Volkmann.

When the little voice of negativity might pop up, it was

drowned out with the encouragement and inspired work

of their collaboration.

To Rachel Findlay for reading and transcribing my

chicken scratchings into comprehensible text.

To Joe Anderson, a hero of helping kids for almost four

decades, for sharing some of his wisdom.

And to Bonnie, for her smile of “go for it” in the midst

of wondering what this nut’s up to now!



Introduction

This book is to inspire you to share your talents and

unique gifts so you will become an instrument of hope in

this fast-changing world, to impart a concept or two that

might lift you to higher ground.

As a life-long educator, I enjoy helping people learn. I

hope that whatever wisdom I have gleaned from four de-

cades of helping others through my personal and profes-

sional relationships can be imparted through the power

of images, simple language, and practical tools and tips

for life.

Each chapter includes a story and a picture to reinforce

hope. What you see in the image will connect to the story,

and together, the foundational concepts will integrate


HEROES and HOPE

xii

more strongly in your life, helping you move to joy-filled

and hopeful living. I’ve also included some tips and tools

at the end of each chapter to help you apply these con-

cepts in your life. I hope you find the marvelous Susan

Volkmann’s illustrations as delightful and inspirational as

I do. Many of these concepts are very simple and can be

understood and shared by children, parents, and grand-

parents alike.

Project H.O.P.E. (Help Our kids Pursue Education) is a

fund-raising project I launched in my home community

of East Wenatchee, Washington, that provides financial as-

sistance to first-year college students entering Wenatchee

Valley College. So far, Project H.O.P.E. has raised over

$145,000 for these students, and I’m pledging to invest

90% of the profits from the sales of this book back into

Project H.O.P.E. I want my legacy to be one of promoting

hope and joy in people’s lives, and Project H.O.P.E. is one

way for me to realize that dream. The other 10% of the

proceeds will be divided among Habitat for Humanity, to


provide homes for families; the YWCA, to assist battered

women; and to Special Olympics, to promote health and

self-esteem among our disabled citizens.

I wish joyful living for all, and I hope this book will in-

spire joy in you.


Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.

—Steven Kloves, Harry Potter and

the Prisoner of Azkaban (movie)


The Stomping Boots:

When Hopes are Trampled

One of my fi rst experiences of fear hit me as I watched

black-and-white newsreels of Hitler’s stiff-armed soldiers

goose-stepping down the avenue. Even now, decades

later, I remember hoping the German Führer and his boot-

stomping fanatics would never rule the world. We defeated

the Nazis, but the stomping boots of life continue their

march.

Life often stomps on us like that. The phone rings.

There’s a knock at the door. The doctor tells us to sit down.

The news arrives unexpectedly and it is not good. Some-

times it is an accumulation of our habits that bring on a

desperate situation. Sometimes, life just deals us a blow.

Stomp, stomp, stomp—we’re down with no hope of rising.


HEROES and HOPE

2

It has now been more than thirty years since M. Scott

Peck began his best-selling book, The Road Less Traveled,

with these memorable words: “Life is difficult.” Could it

be that the reason so many bought and read his book is

that Peck named a fundamental fact that many of us hate

to admit but know to be true? His audience probably in-

cluded many of the middle and upper class Americans

who are not hungry and poor, but who have still felt the

pain of lost opportunities, broken relationships, illnesses,

addictions, and accidents. Darkness will work its way into

everyone’s life at one time or another, and many of us

won’t cope well. We mistakenly assume that we are en-

titled to blue skies and sunny days forever; however, life is

difficult, and the stomping boots will catch up to us all. At

such times, it is easy to wallow in life’s muck, but we can

choose a different response.

Every life has its ruts and times of quiet desperation.

Many have experienced the mountaintop—feeling on top

of the world—only to discover that for every magnificent


The Stomping Boots:When Hopes are Trampled

3

peak, there are two valleys, one on either side. Life’s di-

verse landscape of valleys, plains, and peaks resembles a

Ferris wheel. We must enjoy the view from the top while it

lasts because we know we’ll sometimes hit bottom.

My mother grew up in the midst of twin stomping

boots: the Oklahoma dust bowl of the mid 1930s and the

peak of the Great Depression. Her family was desperately

poor, but so was everyone else. One day, when she was

thirteen years old, while skipping home from school, she

saw a neighbor mother sitting by the road, weeping. The

woman had five children and was two weeks from deliver-

ing her sixth.

While her husband was looking for work in town, their

mortgage-holder had arrived and evicted them from their

home. They had no money, nowhere to go.

My mother, Ruby Jewel Duff, rushed home, blurted

out the desperate details to her mom, and tearfully asked

where Dad was. Even as she told of the neighbors’ plight,

her dad had started hitching up his large farm wagon with

a team of horses.


HEROES and HOPE

4

Soon he returned with the neighbor mother and all her

children. My mother, her younger brother, and her parents

moved into one of their home’s bedrooms and gave the

other to the evicted family. Together they lived off a small

garden and raised chickens for meat and eggs. It did not

take long for other neighbors to pitch in and help. A local

farmer and some neighbors built them a place to stay by

converting a small shed into a short-term home until they

were able to get back on their feet.

I was touched to hear of this tender side of my grand-

father, as the man I knew, William Jefferson Davis Duff,

was a hard-working, hard-drinking ironworker. He helped

build Boulder Dam, fell and broke his back, recovered,

and went up to Washington to work on the mighty Grand

Coulee Dam. Inside that tough, battered body was a ten-

der heart ready to help others who suffered under the

stomping boots of difficult times.

“That’s not fair!” Whenever I uttered this lament as a

child, my mother’s response was always “Oh, did you get



5

that fairness guarantee written on your birth certificate—

that life was fair? It was missing on mine.”

By now, many have heard of Randy Pausch and the

world famous video The Last Lecture. At age forty-seven,

when his future should have been wide open, he was di-

agnosed with pancreatic cancer—an unbeatable nemesis.

Talk about unfair! He came to terms with this aggressive

cancer and realized he had to play the hand he had been

dealt. In his heartfelt lecture, he described some of his les-

sons learned: he had begun to realize his daily blessings,

he acknowledged how vital it is to always tell the truth,

and he affirmed his need to apologize for whatever hurts

he had caused. He was a teacher, so he used the platform

of his classroom to teach his students these lessons for

life. His video-taped lecture has been seen by millions on

YouTube, a testament to the hunger in our world, even

among young people, for inspiration to help us confront

the stomping boots of life.

Yes, life is unfair. “Life is difficult.” If you’re like me, even

though you have a roof over your head and you haven’t


HEROES and HOPE

6

missed a meal in a long time, you still wonder why mil-

lions go to bed hungry, why babies are born as drug ad-

dicts or HIV positive, why everyone can’t just get along.

Even though the world is still full of pessimism, fear,

and despair, some might say it is the greatest time in hu-

man history to be alive. Look at the improvements: we’ve

wiped out small pox and polio, women can vote and even

run for president, and 70% of the countries in the world

have some form of democracy.

It is hard to imagine anyone facing more stomping boot

experiences than our sixteenth president. If your heart has

ever been shattered, you might identify with him. He lost

a brother in his early years, and even more devastating was

the death of his beloved mother when he was only nine.

His father, a harsh man, objected to Abraham Lincoln’s

love of literature: he felt a strapping young man ought to

spend his time working on the farm.

Early in his presidency, on February 20th, 1862, Lincoln’s

beloved son, Willie, died at age eleven. This tragedy sent



7

his wife into a mental decline from which she never fully

recovered, and yet Abraham Lincoln summoned the cour-

age to lead this country from the precipice of breaking

apart back to unity. Like most heroes, who find something

more important than themselves to help transcend the

daily challenges of life, he dedicated all his energy toward

saving the Union. As I write this, untold heroes are surfac-

ing to help in the Haiti disaster through time, resources,

finances, boots on the ground, and prayer. Lincoln turned

his attention from his broken heart to helping the nation.

The road out of tragedy is many times paved with altruis-

tic efforts.

When we accept that life is difficult, unfair, and chal-

lenging at best, that everyone’s story includes more than

a few rough patches, I believe we can improve our daily

journey when we ask empowering questions with a posi-

tive focus. Some questions to consider asking yourself:

How can I make a difference for someone else?

To whom do I owe an apology?


HEROES and HOPE

8

Am I holding any grudges? Is it time I forgive?

How can I be more loving today?

These questions lead us toward a path of gratitude and

service and give us greater energy, joy, and hope for the

future, even in a stomping-boot world.



9

Tips:View The Last Lecture on YouTube.com by Randy Pausch

or read the book of the same title.

Read the 46th Psalm. (Martin Luther wrote the hymn

A Mighty Fortress is our God based on this text.)

Tools:The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch & Jeffrey Zaslow

Safe in the Shepherd’s Arms, Max Lucado

The Road Less Traveled, M. Scott Peck


About the Author

The principles Leon McKinney

gleaned from twenty five years of

teaching and a lifetime of experi-

ences in an incredible family are

powerful indeed. His stories of overcoming great diversity

can motivate one to live positively in almost any circum-

stance. The inspiration he received from watching his par-

ents’ struggles and triumphs in raising his special needs

sister shaped his life. Add to these his keen observations

about living joyfully in the middle of the most difficult situ-

ations, and you have a hint of the empowering words he

brings to readers of Heroes and Hope.

Founder of H.O.P.E., a non profit program dedicated to

helping kids pursue education through community-sup-

ported scholarships, McKinney walks the walk by reaching

out to young people with hope for a better future. H.O.P.E.

stands for Help Our Kids Pursue Education. The “K” is missing


because H.O.P.E.’s goal is to bring in the kids who are left

out by doing everything possible to help students who

want more education but lack the financial resources to

take the first steps.

McKinney earned a BA in Education and a Masters in

Music Education from Central Washington State Univer-

sity. After teaching music for four years at Pateros schools,

he taught for 21 Years at Eastmont High School and served

as the Director of Music for the Eastmont Schools. Since

retiring from education, he has worked in insurance and in-

vestment, where he is a leading agent and mentor for New

York Life. He is a Life member of Million Dollar Round-

table, an organization of the top five percent in the U. S.

insurance industry. He spent 12 years as board member

of the NCW Community Foundation and has served as its

Vice President. Leon was honored as the friend of the year

of Wenatchee Valley College in 2006. He and his wife Bon-

nie have four adult children: Jeff, Brent, Christy, and Brian


About the Illustrator

Susan Volkmann has been at the drawing board since

the age of 5. After a circuitous route of attending college,

graduating with a biology degree, and then working as a

cytologist, she returned to art school and to her original

passion. Shortly afterward, she and her husband moved

away from the Midwest and were blessed with three chil-

dren. Despite the distractions of raising a family and man-

aging their small ranch, she found the time to draw and

paint. The artwork found in Heroes and Hope is a culmina-

tion of 3 years of research, collaboration, and inspiration.

The illustrations are her fi rst to be published. Susan owes

the completion of her work in no small part to the author,


Leon McKinney. It was Leon’s gift for motivating all he

meets with his vision, his indefatigable enthusiasm, and

his “can do” spirit which ultimately inspired her to pursue

a lifelong dream and career as a professional illustrator.


What People are Saying

Heroes and Hope is a testament to heartfelt living. A treasure trove of stories, practical wisdom and Susan Volkmann’s exquisite art. Heroes and Hope delivers inspiration on every page.

—Mr. Mike Armstrong, State Representative,12th district of Washington State.

...a work of a gentle and caring spirit! The book is a wonderful life recipe to not only share with students and children but those we meet and work with in everyday life. Add to his heartfelt words the work he and this book continue to do to get students into college and it is just that much more inspiring to all who read it.

—Jim Richardson, Ph.D.,President, Wenatchee Valley College


—Dr. Rich McBride, Superintendent,North Central Washington Educational Service District

Wenatchee, Washington.


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award-winning books and an accepted entry for the Pulitzer PrizeWe are changing lives worldwide, one book at a time.

Visit us often at www.TendrilPress.com

For Quantity orders of any title please call

303.696.9227


A treasure trove of stories, practical wisdom and Susan Volkmann’s exquisite art. Heroes and Hope delivers inspiration on every page.

Leon McKinney shares how love, family, and simple but powerfulstories of overcoming great adversity can inspire one to hopefulliving in almost any circumstance.

As a lifelong teacher, high school instrumental and choral director, youth baseball and basketball coach, and adult educator, his keen observations about living joyfully in the middle of the most diffi cult situations are truly uplifting. 90% of his author proceeds will be contributed to H.O.P. E a nonprofi t program dedicated to helping kids pursue education and 10% to other charities of his choice.

Heroes and Hope is an all occasion inspiration for worldweary souls...a joyful confi rmation of the good the world has to offer. Mr. McKinney’s ability to fi nd the humor and happiness in the hard times of life is inspiring!

—Steve Rizzo, Speaker Hall of Fame Inductee,author of Becoming a Humor Being.


—Dr. Rich McBride, Superintendent,North Central Washington

Educational Service DistrictWenatchee, Washington.

A WORK OF HEART ...A TESTAMENT TO HEARTFELT LIVING

www.TendrilPress.com303.696.9227

SELFHELP / Motivational & Inspirational

Book Design & Cover by A J Images, Inc.

Heroes Case CoverREV.indd 1 5/11/10 9:28 AM

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