By Alexander Rivero, Staff Writer

One day about ten years ago, while buying his groceries at Shop Rite, Steve Rampton heard a young man singing over the store’s public address system. The song was badly off key and clearly improvised on the spot, and the lyrics were about nothing more than the simple fact that the bakery department had just restocked its baskets with fresh bread. But what Rampton remembers most about that particular moment was the sheer enthusiasm with which that young man belted out that tune over the scratchy PA speakers, and the rejuvenating energy that pumped through the supermarket in the fleeting moments after the announcement ceased.

“I wanted to meet him,” says Rampton, remembering the day. “He was a good looking, nice young man, and I just loved what he did, the life in him. It was contagious, his energy. He was absolutely thrilled to meet a fan, and we chatted for a little bit.”

Several months later, Rampton was shocked to learn the tragic news: it turned out that this same young man—star student, college bound, handsome, and with an overflowing sense of mirth—took his own life.

Rampton, a Vanderbilt University graduate and former Naval officer, recalls this particular anecdote when reflecting on what it was that inspired him to write his new book, Alpha Nurd: The Historical Revolution of Nerds/Nurds, published in January by Lifeword Publishing. The book itself is a reflection on some of the more dynamic, iconoclastic, and misunderstood figures throughout humanity’s complex history, and a call to arms to anyone who for whatever reason doubts that they cannot make a lasting and meaningful contribution to their world.

“It floored me when I heard that this young man had taken his own life,” says Rampton. “It was a sort of wake-up call for me in this regard, that even though someone may look like they have everything going for them, we never know the private battles they happen to be fighting internally. We just don’t know.”

While studying at Vanderbilt, Rampton, who always had a fascination with words and wordplay, coined a new word of his own—“nurd.” Rampton’s word obviously traces its roots to the word “nerd”, itself coined by none other than Theodor Seuss Geisel—known around the world as Dr. Seuss—in his book If I Ran the Zoo to describe a fictional zoo creature, not a human. The term itself has evolved since then, suggesting a whole range of attributes in modern usage, from social awkwardness, to excessive studiousness, and even an uncanny ease in handling electronic gadgetry.

The definitional range of the word “nurd”, on the other hand, includes some of the attributes of its dorky derivative, but expands on them in key ways that make the term a unique addition to the lexicon. Most important amongst these key ways is the word’s heroic implication. Indeed, a “nurd” may very well be dorky, or shy, or socially awkward, or excessively passionate about something few others care for. However, underneath all of these attributes, a nurd acts proactively with his impulses and passions. He follows them regardless of what the naysayers and critics say. A “nurd” always moves forward, always towards their own individual maximization, and the subsequent use of their gift for the benefit of others.

“Take Michelangelo,” Rampton says, as he considers some of his own personal favorite nurds. “Obviously an incredible talent. But he was pretty much doing art to pay his bills. Completely misunderstood by most of the people he dealt with on a day-to-day basis. And today, he’s a household name, and for excellent reason. He fought through, continued doing what he was doing, and humanity owes him a great debt for it.”

Another noteworthy attribute to nurds is their ability to, as Rampton describes, “fly at 30,000 feet,” a reference to their capacity for foresight and overall intelligence. Here, nurds like Albert Einstein, who was lambasted by many of his grammar school teachers as being too stupid to learn, comes to mind, along with physicist Stephen Hawkins, and the famed Alsatian polymath Albert Schweitzer.

 “Much of what we have today comes from these great and influential people,” Rampton points out. “The Carnegies, the Rockefellers. They called them robber barons, but they built our world.”
Alpha Nurd takes a look at 50 nurds, 25 men and 25 women, throughout the course of human history, all the way up to the present day.

“I met Steve Jobs on a cross-country flight, back when the Macintoshes first came out,” remembers Rampton. “I spoke to one of his assistants, who invited me to go and speak to his boss, and I did. After talking to Jobs at length, he told me to give him the name and phone number of the smartest engineer I knew. He was just insatiable, and he always wanted to learn more, to pick people’s brains and feed his own.”

Former New York Giants running back Lee Rouson wrote the foreword to the Alpha Nurd, and both he and Rampton are excited to have it out for the public. The duo is available to speak to students of all ages about what it takes to be a real nurd.
To contact Steve Rampton, please e-mail him at info@alphanurd.com.

Copies of the book are available for sale at www.alphanurd.com, or wherever books are sold.