Lost and Dean Acheson

You are probably wondering what a hit television show and the bio of Dean Acheson, one of the most influential Secretaries of State, could possibly have in common. Well, it turns out the writers of Lost post their reading lists online and they are currently reading Dean Acheson: A life in the Cold War.

My officemate, Sarah, is an avid fan and she saw an immediate connection. For all you Lost fans, we are going to delve a little further. Never seen the show? It’s okay, we still like you.

So according to Sarah, last night’s episode of Lost focused on what makes a great man. Desmond was their test subject, and we at OUP would like to think that, perhaps, Dean Acheson was their penultimate model. The show explored Desmond’s life before he came to the island and we learned that Desmond was a good man in his past and despite the stress of “lost” life has become a great man.

Similarly, Dean Acheson was a great man and according to those close to him, he was also a very good one – loyal, a good father, and incredibly hardworking. We know it is a stretch to assume that the producers of Lost used Dean Acheson as the seed for last night’s episode, but you never know!