It's only natural to make gods out of women and men. Humankind has been doing so for centuries. I don't see anything wrong with idolization, as long it serves as inspiration rather than religion.

Every aspiring artist, writer and entrepreneur has a Mount Rushmore comprised of extraordinary individuals whose work and talent they hope to emulate. Idolization only becomes dangerous when it causes the individual doing the idolizing to walk too closely in the steps of those who came before them.

The painter Robert Henri once wrote...

Know what the old masters did. Know how they composed their pictures, but do not fall into the conventions they established. These conventions were right for them, and they are wonderful. They made their language. You make yours.

Think of the winter traveler, following the impressions in the snow of another winter traveler who came before him. While he can follow these impressions for a time, if he wishes to discover something new, he must find the courage to step away from the comforting tracks left before him and journey somewhere else.