Ben Stein

I knew Ben Stein many years ago. I loved his legendary turn in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and delighted in his tongue-in-cheek self-help books.  His American Spectator columns were not always about politics. His best ones were meditations on the oddities of daily life in LA - they were personal, introspective, very funny, at times moving. Not what you'd expect from the typical righty-bloviator.

So yes, he's an extreme right-winger, and I'm somewhere between "not a righty" to "very much the opposite." What, you didn't know lefties and righties could be friends? Yeah, they can. (Hey, I didn't say they necessarily remain friends.)

Anyway, this is my tribute to Ben Stein in color. I never saw him on a skateboard, but I wouldn't be surprised if I did.