From The Free Radical's special Ayn Rand Centenary issue, March 2005)

I met him when I was twenty-two. My life would never be the same again.

On a crisp evening not long ago, I took a brisk walk through the park near my home. The sun’s radiance had long since faded giving way to far-reaching darkness, and the moon—understatedly luminous—had risen. As I strolled through the park, I observed a man in the distance standing rigidly, but with his head bent back at an awkward angle. He appeared to be transfixed by something overhead. Curiosity got the better of me and I approached him. When I asked what he saw, he replied simply: “The future.”

I didn’t understand what he meant at first. But then, I gazed up and witnessed the moon, the stars and the vast expanse of space. And, feeling a strange sense of exhilaration, I started to grasp the meaning of his statement.

Elsewhere on SOLOHQ is recorded the departure of New Zealand tennis ace Chris Lewis for the United States. Actually, this is not yet the final move—he and his American wife are currently deciding where in the States they and their three children will settle pending a final farewell to Kiwi shores. As a close friend, I'm saddened to think one of my real-life heroes will now be thousands rather than hundreds of miles away; as a soulmate, I couldn't be more pleased for Chris. This move is as overdue as it will be efficacious. Can-do America, much more than mediocrity-worshipping New Zealand, is Tall Poppy Chris' spiritual home.