Statues are usually erected after the namesake is dead just in case honorees do something unpleasant. For example, some suggested a statue of O.J. Simpson be erected after he rushed for 2003 yards for the Buffalo Bills in 1973.

But there are plenty of statues of living persons. A statue of Nelson Mandela was unveiled in 2007 in Britain ’s Parliament Square. A bronze sculpture of Willie Nelson will be erected in Austin, Tex. There is a Michael Jordan statue in Chicago. A  Michael Jackson statue in the Netherlands was installed prior to his death.

The Roman Emperor Nero built a 120-foot statue of himself in front of his new palace. When it was complete he said, "Good, now I can at last begin to live like a human being."

A  25-foot statue of Marilyn Monroe posing as if a draft of wind lifts her dress was displayed in downtown Chicago and now Palm Springs. Thousands have had their pictures taken gazing up at her underwear.

In calculating the legacy of a man or his deeds, the perspective of time is valuable. Cato the Elder was never honored with a statue, while lesser men of his time were. When asked about it, he said, “I would rather people ask why there is no statue of me than why there is one.”

When people start to ask why there is no statue of Nik Wallenda, that may be the time to build one.