David

A young shepherd from the biblical story “David and Goliath.” He volunteers to fight the giant Goliath on behalf of the Israelites. David uses his small stature and clever mind to his advantage and defeats Goliath.

Goliath

A philistine warrior from the biblical story “David and Goliath.” Goliath is described as a giant who is skilled at hand-to-hand combat. To avoid massive bloodshed, Goliath volunteers to challenge one Israelite. Goliath ridiculed David for his small size, but he was defeated by David’s quick thinking.

T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)

A British military leader. He is known for leading the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire during World War I. He trained a large group of Bedouin soldiers, who lacked conventional military skills, and successfully seized the port town of Aqaba.

Vivek Ranadivé 

An Indian immigrant to the U.S. who lives in Silicon Valley and works for a software company. Ranadivé decided to coach his daughter’s youth basketball team, even though he never played the game. Ranadivé recognized he and his team did not have much basketball experience and decided to teach a defensive strategy known as the full-court press. Ranadivé’s strategy was unconventional, but it allowed his team to compensate for their lack of experience.

Teresa DeBrito

An educator and the principal of Shepaug Valley Middle School. DeBrito worried that the class sizes at her school were becoming too small. She has taught both small and large classes and believes students are more successful in large classes.

David Boies

A lawyer and one of the most successful litigators in the United States. Boies is dyslexic and, as a child, struggled to learn to read. After he graduated high school, Boies worked as a construction worker before deciding to become a lawyer.

Emil “Jay” Freireich 

A doctor, hematologist, oncologist, and cancer biologist. The son of Hungarian immigrants, Freireich grew up in extreme poverty during the Great Depression. Freireich attended college, after a teacher suggested it, and medical school. His work on children in the leukemia ward at the National Cancer Institute incited criticism from colleagues

Wyatt Walker 

A Baptist minister who went to Birmingham, Alabama, to work with Martin Luther King Jr. Walker was a “trickster” enlisted by King to create a situation to reveal the truth about racism in Birmingham’s segregationist policies. He helped spur the Civil Rights Movement. 

Rosemary Lawlor 

A Catholic woman from Northern Ireland, who was forced to flee her Protestant neighborhood with her husband and newborn baby during the Troubles.

Mike Reynolds

A father whose daughter was murdered during a purse snatching in 1992. Reynolds used his daughter’s murder to address California’s high crime rate and to increase penalties for repeat offenders. Reynolds’s efforts resulted in California’s Three Strikes Law.

Wilma Derksen 

A Canadian woman and mother whose daughter was murdered in the 1980s.

André Trocmé

A pastor in the Huguenot faith. During World War II, he lived in the mountain town of Chambon-sur-Ljigne and sheltered Jewish people.

Konrad Kellen

A German-born American political scientist, intelligence analyst, and author.

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