Over the weekend, my friend Chas Villante passed away.That's him, on the right, with me in Utah. Every year, after spending a week with him skiing, I felt driven all over again to go after my dream. I've never seen anyone reach his full potential or lead a fuller life than Chas.
He walked on to the Syracuse football team as a quarterback. His position coach at the time was current New York Giant Head Coach Tom Coughlin. Coughlin is as ruthless as any coach that's ever patrolled the sidelines; spit flew into the faces of his Syracuse players as he screamed at them during drills. But at the end of the season, he pulled Chas aside and told him he was proud of how hard he had worked.
When his first job in advertising paid too little to afford an apartment, Chas commuted two hours each way from Pennsylvania to New York. He rose to the rank of Executive Creative Director and shot commercials all over the world.
He could play any song on guitar by ear. He stayed in his football playing shape into his forties. When he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, he was given a 90% chance of dying within a year – he lived for five.
Chas was always the most energetic, charismatic person in the room. He was a quarterback until the day he died.
How about, in lieu of sending flowers to his family, every person reading this attempts to do something this week that he or she has been afraid to pursue. I can't think of a more fitting tribute.
