Mike had great respect fo people who triumphed in the face of adversity. People such as Nelson Mandela.

Hanging on the wall next to his desk is a poem by William Hanley. It is called 'Invictus' and was a great source of inspiration for Nelson Mandela during the 27 year ordeal of his imprisonment. 

During his own battle (with cancer), Mike embraced the spirit of this poem and in later years swore that it had helped him through his darkest hours.

He never stopped fighting and was truly the captain of his soul.

INVICTUS

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.


William Ernest Henley