Where Sonia Sotomayor found inspiration

It's no mystery where Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor first found inspiration for her brilliant legal career.

Credit supersleuth Nancy Drew, whose stories the 54-year-old judge fell hard for as a girl growing up in the Bronx.

And, really, what's not to love?

Nancy is bright, bold and independent. A girl who could solve any puzzle (whether it's locating a missing will or turning the tables on a gang of swindlers) in 200 pages or less.

In short, Nancy was always in the driver's seat - literally, what with her snappy little blue convertible - and she fueled Sonia Sotomayor's dreams about what she wanted to be when she grew up.

At age 8, Sonia Sotomayor was diagnosed with diabetes and was told that detective work wasn't a career for her. She had a Plan B: She'd see that justice was done as a lawyer.

Now this local girl made good has driven herself all the way from a Bronx housing project to the U.S. Court of Appeals - and is on the threshold of the highest court in the land.

Turns out that Nancy Drew has inspired many powerful women, in-cluding former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Secretary of State Clinton.

You never know where life-altering inspiration will come from - the pages of a book, a classic flick, a TV show or maybe even dear old Mom ...

The late Bernie Mac said he was inspired by his mother as a child to embark on a life of comedy. The funnyman recalled being 5 years old and watching his mom - who brought him up alone - go from crying to laughing when she saw Bill Cosby on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

"When I saw her laughing, I told her that I was going to be a comedian so she'd never cry again," Mac said.

Tween sensation Miley Cyrus may be following in her father's footsteps as a singer, but Billy Ray Cyrus confesses that his daughter actually caught the acting bug after watching "Mamma Mia!" at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. An 8-year-old Miley was so enchanted by the jukebox musical that she grabbed her daddy's arm and said, "I want to be an actress!" She took acting lessons in Toronto (where her father was filming the TV series "Doc") before auditioning for Disney's "Hannah Montana" series - and the rest, as they say, is history.

Sssst! Cesar Millan, aka the Dog Whisperer, has said watching shows like "Lassie" and "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin" as a kid inspired him to not only work with dogs, but train them.

"I wanted to learn who made the dog give five," said Milan, when asked what in the show fascinated him. "Who made the dog jump over something? Go to people and tell them Timmy is in danger or something?"

from: nydailynews.com