I have only just become aware of a notable Esperantist, Mr. Clause Piron (whom you may know as the author of Gerda Malaperis!). Unfortunately, Mr. Piron passed away in 2008, but the things I have found about him lead me to believe he led an extraordinary life. No, I know no one will probably ever visit this blog. I am not dumb. But in case a few people happen to stumble across it, I want those few people to find interesting tidbits. Mr. Piron was born in Belgium, and his first language was French. However, he was an avid Esperantist, and he swore to his dying day that Esperanto should be more widely spoken and respected. And this was a person who worked as both a psychology professor and a UN translator, so he knew how the mind handled languages and the such. And he was very passionate about it. And he was also an understanding man, and it shows how good a person he was when someone is trashing the language he holds so dear, and he continues to say that that person has the right to their opinion. I know most of us wouldn't do that. (see the second link) Here are some links, and a youtube video which is posted here on the site already, but I thought this might shed some light on it.
http://claudepiron.free.fr/articlesenanglais/evolution.htm 
http://donh.best.vwh.net/Languages/piron.html