Peter Harkins has been gone an entire year?
Maybe it’s just me, but the quest for “affordable housing” in Fayetteville - or any city, for that matter - doesn’t stop at buying houses. A lot of folks complain that rents are too high, but their complaints seem to fall on deaf ears.
What are reasonable rents in Fayetteville?
Some are proposing (not at the city council level, sad to say) that if folks are evicted to make room for development, that they shouldn’t have to come up with the dreaded deposit/first month/last month rent on a new place. Or perhaps the folks doing the evicting should come up with some of that money, in order to ease the financial burden?
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Willard L. Bratton Jr. had a wonderful letter in the Northwest Arkansas Times today about my friend, Peter Harkins, who wrote for us at the Ozark Gazette. Peter died a year ago this week, and his absence on the letters pages in still keenly felt.
Peter was one of those writers who could write about anything, and his subjects ranged from his experiences writing juvenile detective stories to the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
One of his best pieces was about a veteran character actor, the sort whose name you don’t remember (he played the druggist in It’s a Wonderful Life) but bring life to the parts they play, and strengthen the whole storyline.
Peter was like that; his writing made whatever publication he was in, whether it was the OG or the Grapevine, a better paper. His call-in show on Fayetteville Open Channel, when he took calls on anything the audience wanted to talk about, was the inspiration for my own show, so many years ago.
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Kind of a clumsy transition here, but what can you do?
And speaking of public access television, on my show next week, we are rerunning an interview with C.A.T. manager Sky Blaylock. Those interested in public access may learn a lot from the interview. Play times:
Monday - 7pm
Tuesday - noon
Saturday - 6pm
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Did you know that C.A.T. offers a free orientation every month, which includes a tour of the station and a brief introduction to just what they offer the public? For more information, call, 444-3433.
You don’t have to live in Fayetteville to take advantage of this great service.
Comments
Thank you for your commentary on my old friend Peter. It's unfortunate that his wish was there was to be no memorial service but that was his wish. No kind, humorous or ringing words.
He said he was simply tired and laid down to rest and didn't get up. He was working on yet another letter to editor which many of us would await in gleeful anticipation. I have log of his letters.
Did you know Peter once wrote comedy for Edgar Bergman?
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Posted by: eLwood![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/streetjazz/nav-commenters.gif)
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October 1, 2007 04:59 PM