Sports Illustrated: Word Art of Lou Gehrig's 'Luckiest Man' Speech Raising Funds for ALS Charities
Dan Duffy wants to be clear: he is not Yankees fan.
Growing up in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia, he watched helplessly as New York defeated his hometown Phillies in the 2009 World Series. Nonetheless, this longtime Philly sports fan isn't letting his heartbreaking past come in the way of giving back to those in need.
Duffy works in word art illustration, taking letters and making images out of relevant words. For over a decade, Duffy has been creating countless unique works of art, ranging from city skylines and musicians to famous moments in history. His most recent piece, released to his site 'Art of Words' earlier this month, has a deeper meaning—one that transcends baseball.
Using the words from Lou Gehrig's 'Luckiest Man' farewell speech in 1939—saying goodbye to Major League Baseball as his once-iron body was collapsing in his battle with ALS—Duffy put together an image of the Hall of Fame first baseman standing in front of a microphone delivering the timeless address.
"This is my dream," Duffy said, explaining the process of taking a blank canvas and turning it into an intricately detailed and distinctive image. "From a distance, a person says, 'Oh, that looks like a cool drawing and illustration.' But they don't know it's made out of words. When they get closer, they see that it's letters. And then the exploration of trying to find out what these letters mean, 'What am I looking at?' I love that self discovery."