There is more than one way to lead a successful life. Some people have all the opportunity in the world laid out before them, and it never does them any good. Others have little more than the determination and desire they’ve dredged up within themselves, and that grit turns out to be the abrasive that smooths the path ahead.

Ronald McNair succeeded despite poverty, racism, and an education system designed to keep Black people down. He became an accidental revolutionary at the age of nine, when he broke the color barrier in his small South Carolina town via the public library. This act of defiance in pursuit of education would set the course for his relatively short but full life, which culminated in his career as a Space Shuttle mission specialist.

Rule-Breaker with a Slide Rule

Ronald McNair was born October 21, 1950 in Lake City, South Carolina, the second of three sons, to Pearl and Carl McNair. His mother was a teacher, and encouraged his love of reading. Ronald’s father, Carl was an auto mechanic who never finished high school and always regretted it. Though the family was poor, Ron grew up surrounded by books, music, and support.

Ronald learned to read by the time he was three years old, and his father forged his birth certificate so he could start school at age four. From a young age, he was obsessed with science fiction, space, and Sputnik in particular. Even though the house was filled with books, there was one book that Ron didn’t have: the one that told him much more about his prized slide rule than the pamphlet that came with it.

In the summer of 1959 he located the book in the Lake City public library. There was only one problem: the library was segregated, and he wasn’t allowed check it out. Nine-year-old Ron didn’t abide, so he simply refused to leave the library until they let him check out his stack of books. First the librarians called the cops, and then they called his mother.

Pearl McNair arrived to find her son sitting on the checkout counter, his little legs dangling down the side. Since he wasn’t causing any real trouble, she proudly stood by her son in the matter, telling the librarians that they ought to just let him check out the books. From that day on, Ron could check out books whenever he wanted.

Ronald was determined in every aspect of his life, and his well-rounded personality is like something out of fiction. Throughout school, he was serious about his studies to the point of being competitive. Ron competed with his friends for the best grades, and won most of the time. In high school, Ron played baseball, football, basketball, and ran track. He also excelled in music, starting on the clarinet and settling on the saxophone. In spite of all these talents and obligations, Ron still found …read more

Source:: Hackaday