Gaylord Willis
A good piece by Ron Wood in the Morning News about Gaylord Willis yesterday. I was sorry to read about his death. I guess just about everyone who encountered him has a few “Gaylord” stories. I have two.
Gaylord #1
When I was editor of the Ozark Gazette, we used to have monthly Saturday morning breakfast meetings at Gaylord’s, open to staff, contributors and supporters of the OG. They were free-wheeling sessions, in which a thousand and one subjects might be discussed.
Now, the OG staff was probably the most liberal - not to mention the most labor-oriented - group of folks in Northwest Arkansas, outside of a labor union. On one occasion, though, not everyone remembered to leave a tip; I guess they thought that I was taking care of it.
The next time I came in, Gaylord gave me all kinds of hell for their forgetfulness. From then on, I made sure that everyone left a tip.
Gaylord #2
Way too many books in my collection have come from Uncle Gaylord’s - especially when there would be a stack of books out front, on the table by the entrance. Invariably, he would stop me before I left and say, “You would like this. It’s a hell of a good book.”
Well, who could resist that? I almost never left without a book - or two - or three . . .
******
John Edwards: Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda . . .
I would have voted for John Edwards for President, gladly - though I didn’t vote for him in the primary. Even though he suffered from the hubris that so many in public life seem to suffer from, I believe he does honestly care about the issues of poverty and class struggles in America - more than any of the other candidates in this years’s batch. Still,:
What the hell was he thinking? Did he actually think that no one would find out?
I’m not sure if as charismatic a politician will be coming down the pike any time soon who can speak so dramatically - and persuasively - about the lives of people who have been forgotten in America.
To echo the words of Cliff Robertson in “Three Days of the Condor”:
You poor dumb son of a bitch. You done more damage than you know . . .
******
Still, isn’t this guy old news?
Russians in Georgia!
Health care in Crisis - look under “Ongoing story”
Afghanistan worse than Iraq!
Recession looming behind us - as in “Objects in rearview mirror may be larger than they appear”
And what do the talking heads seem to give way too much of their time to?
Yup - John Edwards
It isn’t the American people who have short attention-spans; it’s the talking heads on basic cable.
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Quote of the Day
Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out. - John Wooden
