Nowhere to Hide

In 1871, after eight months of searching the depths of Africa, Henry Stanley, a lone reporter (top picture), stood gazing at Dr. David Livingstone (below).

Livingstone, an explorer and English national hero had set out to find the source of the Nile River in 1864 but lost contact with the outside world and disappeared for many years.

People became frantic to find the man, the mystery consuming the papers, conversation, and gossip all over London.

What had happened to the great Dr. Livingstone? Was he captured, lost, or dead?

Journalist Henry Stanley was hired to discover the answer.  Taking two hundred men, he finally made his way to the east African village of Ujiji on the shore of Lake Tanganyika.   There, Stanley saw a white man amidst a crowd of natives.

So overcome with emotion and respect, he didn’t know how to approach him. Finally pressing forward, he said.   “Doctor Livingstone, I presume?”

“Yes,” he said, with a kind smile, lifting his cap slightly.

Thus began a moment in history that has been repeated in plays, books, and films.

Can you even imagine that happening today?  A famous man getting lost for an indefinite period of time and finding a polite journalist welcoming him back into society?

Tiger Woods had a little run-in with his SUV, his wife, and a couple dozen mistresses, or whatever number the public settles on as sufficient.

The man stayed indoors for over a month, probably going insane, but it was better than facing a phalanx of reporters shoving mikes into his face and asking the most intimate of questions.

“How often did you have sex?”
"How many partners?"
“You getting divorced?”
“Did your wife beat you with the golf club?”

You get the picture.  Things weren't looking good, and the best golfer in the world needed quiet time alone.

But where to go?

Africa?

Brad and Angie can't find a tree large enough to hide behind.

Michael Jackson flew everywhere and couldn't find a place.   Elvis didn't either.

Instead, the man with the thick fisted black book is said to have checked into a sex clinic in Mississippi.

I bet he hated it. I bet even with a raging wife and disappointed public, he didn’t want to go.  I bet he silently enrolled, kicking and screaming.

But Mr. Woods had no other choice.

Dr. Livingstone got lost unintentionally. Tiger couldn't do it for a million bucks.

But did you know that Stanley and Livingstone became lifelong friends and that after the explorer died, Stanley quit reporting and continued Livingstone's work in Africa?

Some things can't be replicated today, even fundamentals like privacy and dignity. 

How about that for a happy ending.