From Prisoner To Head Of State

The funeral of Nelson Mandela extolled the virtues of a man who spent years in prison and later became his county's head of state.

Not only that, Mandela presided over a peaceful transition.

There have been few such great men in recent history, but there have been others. Last Sunday I posted a link to an article about the president of Uruguay, a former Tupamaro guerrilla, who spent years in prison.

Yesterday's New York Times published an article about Vaclav Havel, dissident writer and playright during the communist period of Czech history, who spent years in prison and became four-term president of the Czech Republic. Havel was a powerful voice for democracy. He should be remembered as another powerful advocate for his people.