(AP photo)

A couple years ago I attended an event at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. After circling the floor a couple times and mingling with some guests I noticed someone who resembled Steve Fossett standing alone and sipping his drink. I did a double-take and thought to myself, how is it this guy is not surrounded by a large crowd? No way, probably not “him”.

I slowly approached him, introduced myself, and proceeded to have an interesting conversation. Yup, it was him… the self-made millionaire and the first person to fly solo around the globe in a balloon (in addition to a bunch of other records). He was a friendly person, well spoken, humble, and very genuine. Sure, we talked about the weather, NYC, MoMA, what it was like circumnavigating the globe by himself, etc, but probably the most surprising thing about our conversation was that he didn’t seem to want to talk about his accomplishments. He actually wanted to know about ME. I was flattered. He was genuinely interested in what I did with my life and what made me tick… surprised I was.

We only managed to speak for a few minutes (it wasn’t long before the other guests started to smother him again), but I learned a lot in those few minutes with Mr. Fossett. One of my favorite quotes kind of sums it up…

“True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.” -Socrates

Steve Fossett was an incredible man. It’s tremendous that he was able to accomplish so many things in his life. He was an inspiration and will be missed.

[1010 WINS News Coverage on Steve Fossett]