Extraordinary People: Ed Chasteen

How many people do we know who are quietly exceptional? People who represent the better end of the bell curve in humanity, even if they never receive the praise that is due them? There have been many such people in my life. Even if my recognition of their excellence doesn't go far into the world, in a way it is irresponsible of me not to do my part to say how their influence has impacted me and so many others. It's not even a part of the Golden Rule to recognize them; they ought to be recognized purely on their own merits.

I grew up next door to one such exceptional person. To say that he's not known would be a misstatement. He's known around the world. It's just that he's not known by enough people.

Known variably as Ed, Big Ed (to those of us who know him), the Pedalin' Prof, and Dr. Chasteen (sociology, anthropology), he has a story that would take volumes to explain. In a nutshell, Ed has spent his life exposing people to those of other cultures, always believing the best about everybody. He started a nonprofit organization called Hate Busters (www.hatebusters.org) that promises to help people impacted by hate with no expectation of compensation. He encourages us to be World Class Persons, being able to go anywhere at any time and without fear, meeting those we don't know because they are wonderful people like ourselves. Despite having multiple sclerosis for the last quarter century he has bicycled thousands and thousands of miles for causes, from proving to himself that people are good across the nation to raising money for MS. He once started at Disney World in Florida with no money or food bound for Disneyland in California, and only relied on the goodness of people he met to get him there; he made it to Anaheim by way of Seattle (it is obvious, and less recognized, that his wife, Bobbie, is also an exceptional person). Ed sees himself as Don Qixote, doing battle with the giants of the world (hatred and the negative end of the way humans treat each other). In a way he has accomplished the transformation to the persona: he is one of the craziest people you'll ever meet, but only because he's one of the sanest men alive.

It is so interesting that I didn't realize the value of this man until well into my adulthood. It didn't hit me what he was really doing until my own sense of injustice led me to look at who was doing what to right humanitarian wrongs. It was a bit of a shock, realizing that the man I grew up next door to was a mover who had put years of work into such effort. And the effort, he is fond of saying, is sublime.

I am glad for such people as Ed Chasteen in the world, and privileged to know him so well. I only wish that more people were like him. As the ripples he has sent into the world have affected me it becomes my duty to amplify them and send them along to others.