U2 star Bono has penned a tribute essay honouring his friend former South African President Nelson Mandela.
The rocker reveals that the late leader was his mentor and hero and the leading figure behind his decision to become an activist for world change as a teenager, reported Entertainment Weekly.
In the 1051-word piece, titled ‘The Man Who Could Not Cry’, was published on Time magazine’s website hours after the news of Mandela’s death was released.
“As an activist I have pretty much been doing what Nelson Mandela tells me since I was a teenager,” Bono wrote.
The singer, who has become a leading light in the fight against Aids and world poverty and an international rights advocate, called Mandela a “forceful presence” in his life, adding his idol was a “hardheaded realist” and a “compromiser without being compromised.”
