get tired of the overuse of the word "hero" in our society. Just because someone dies doesn't make them a hero - whether they're a captain of industry, a cop, or a soldier. Being a hero means doing something specifically heroic - dying because you went into a burning building in an attempt to save someone else, for example. Getting shot and dying is horribly sad, but not heroic in and of itself.
I get tired of the overuse of the word too, and you may well be right that "hero" is the wrong word for Steve, but I don't think anyone is suggesting that Steve will be a hero just because he died, however he dies.
"Hero" isn't a word just for people who save others from burning buildings. A hero might be someone who stands up for what is morally right even when society condemns him for it. Or even for just standing tall and enduring the laughter over an invention that he knows will work and change the world. Such courage might not risk life or limb, but it could cost someone their job, reputation, friendships even a marriage. Arguably it take much more courage and heroism to hold out under such circumstances than running into a burning building. The one doing that has adrenaline to keep them going. and it's over quick. But moral or intellectual courage can require years of sacrifice, stress and emotional pain.
Steve's "heroics" are of this caliber. Hero is for a man or woman who displays courage, and that courage need not be in the midst of gunfire. It can simply be the courage to say, "I know this is right, and I won't back down from that. Laugh at me, fire me, ignore me, I am not afraid to stay this course and prove that it is the right one."
Steve did that, maybe not always, but enough times, avoiding the easy way out of agreeing and going along and not making waves. And hence, he can be said to be a hero. Maybe not to you, but so some. And that's all he need be--a hero to some--in order to be called such by some.
Just because the word is overused and badly used--even stupidly used--doesn't mean it is wrongly used in this instance.
