INTERNATIONAL MEN'S DAY: ODE TO A MENTOR

Ten years ago, on 1 March 1999, my Mentor and best friend – L.T. Henry, an author, photojournalist, sales and success motivation trainer, and classically trained musician who spoke five languages (French, German, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese), performed briefly with The Philadelphia Orchestra, and was a former drummer for internationally acclaimed songstress and film and television actress Ms. Della Reese – died suddenly. “L.T.”, as he was affectionately referred to by those of us who knew and loved him, danced with life, strived for excellence, fought against injustice, saw and pointed out the beauty and untapped potential in every one, and transformed adversities into triumphs. He was a compassionate Creative Genius who searched for answers and truth and invested 100% of his intellect, passion, energy, and talent into each person he mentored and into every project that he took on. L.T. expected his mentees to search for answers and truth, to help others, to “dance with life”, to strive for excellence, to invest 100% of our intellect, passion, energy and talent into each and every project that we worked on, and to “get up, dust ourselves off, and get back in the race” when Life threw us a curve ball.


A critical thinker, L.T. shared his concerns about the unique issues that confronted Men around the world with me. He asked aloud: “Where does a man go to find answers to questions about Fatherhood? Who can he turn to?” The fact that no one walked up to Men, tapped them on their shoulder, and said, ”Hey, to become a successful parent and have happy, well-adjusted children, you need to do ‘x, y, and z’,” was not lost on him. “L.T.” saw the need for the creation of an interactive and uncensored Fatherhood Forum that provided Men from all Walks of Life throughout our global village with an opportunity to freely express their dreams and questions and to exchange information, ideas, and solutions about issues that tugged at their heartstrings. He envisioned a world in which Men from all Walks of Life would share information with each other, work together, and support each other. It was a world that he was working to help create when he died.


Ten years ago, on 15 October 1999, I stepped out on faith and embarked upon a journey to resurrect L.T.’s vision and perpetuate his legacy. On that day, I launched IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD(R).

It was, and continues to be, the least that I can do for a Man who has done so much for me.