Piece based on Benjamin Franklin painting by Rosie Julin. "I was inspired by Ben Franklin's breadth and depth of pursuits. He was truly a man ahead of his time. The piece first reflects on the effects of his contributions to our modern scientific discoveries, democracy, and press while maintaining a feel for the archival. The piece then transitions to his writings and reflections on his own life. He had the quintessentially American story of "pulling himself up by his bootstraps". "The portrait by Joseph Siffred Duplessis was painted while he was Ambassador to France, towards the end of his life, and while he was working on his famous Autobiography. I also included some of his works from his Poor Richard's Almanac, one of his first claims to fame. Finally, the piece concludes with a line from his Autobiography where he explains that reflections are made durable by putting them in writing. And he did just that. Through his letters and writings, we are able to learn quite a bit about th
