Somebody said the superintendent’s house was on fire, so the five of us walked down the hill from school to watch it burn.
Four of us were juniors that spring of 1963 - Larry, James, Jimmy and me. Charley was the fifth member of our group. He was a sophomore, and we let him run around with us as long as he didn't do anything stupid, like embarrass us in front of girls.
The day was chilly. Larry, James, Jimmy and I had on coats; Charley wore a short-sleeved shirt. If Charley owned a coat, I had never seen him wear it. Charley’s family was poor. Lots of families were back then, but Charley’s even more so. His father was a pulp wood cutter. His family lived back in the woods, the deep woods, down a dirt road somewhere.
Charley was a bright kid, quick and intelligent. Everybody has known a kid like Charley, known that somewhere behind those quick remarks and comic attitude was an ability to do more than he did. Charley could have made excellent grades, but he chose not to. Teachers wouldn't have known what to do with him if he had. Besides, in Charlie's life there was reality, then everything else. And the reality was that Charley was the son of a pulp wood cutter. Barring some great miracle, Charley would always be the son of a pulp wood cutter.
The superintendent's house was really burning by the time we got to the bottom of the hill. The fire had burned through the roof . Dark gray smoke, almost black, went up a distance and then flattened out, the way smoke does on a cold day.
The five of us just stood around for a minute or so, watching the house burn. Then Charley said, "I bet we can save some of their stuff," and before we could stop him, Charley opened a window and crawled inside the burning house.
“Hey!” Jimmy said when Charlie climbed through the window. “You can’t go in there!” Jimmy was that way sometimes – doing what was proper, and proper right then, to him, was that a boy like Charley was not supposed to go into the superintendent’s house.
James didn’t say anything or do anything at first. He waited to see how things would turned out before making a commitment.
Larry and I stood near the window, moving aside now and then when smoke boiled through the window. Then Charley appeared, passed out a small lamp table, and went back into the smoke.
It went that way for a while – Charley passing things through the window to Larry and me, and to Jimmy and James after a while. Pretty soon we had a pile of chairs, small tables and books stacked beside a pecan tree.
Charley had just started on a closet when the fireman arrived. The school was between two towns, each four miles away, and it took the volunteer fireman a little while to get to the fire stations and then to the house. Charley was handing out a armful of clothes when one of the firemen ran up to us yelling. "What do you boys think you're doing? You're giving the fire more oxygen! Shut that window!" Grownups knew more than us kids, so we got Charley out of the house, shut the window and watched the fireman spray water on the house.
After the fire was out, we went inside the house. Everything was burned; nothing usable was left. We went back outside.
The basketball coach came up and said, "I hear you boys saved a lot of stuff from the house." One of us said, "Yes sir, but it was Charley’s idea. He went inside. All we did was take what he handed out the window."
The coach turned to Charley, who stood there with his hands in his pockets. The day had turned colder. The coach said, "You look cold. Where's your coat?" Charley replied, "I don't have it with me." The coach just nodded. He said, "You did a good job. I think you've done enough for today. Why don't I drive you home." Charley said, "It's only one o'clock." The coach laughed. "I know. But I don't think the superintendent will mind."
A funny thing. I don’t remember anybody – teacher or student -- saying anything about the fire next day.
We four seniors graduated the next year. Larry went to work for a telephone company. In September, James and Jimmy went off to college. I joined the Army.
In August of 1967 I met up with Larry at Camp Martin Cox, base camp of the 9th Infantry Division, at Bear Cat, Republic of Vietnam. Larry had been drafted in 1966. We sat around in his hooch for a while, drank beer, talked about people back home.
After I got back home, I learned that James had graduated from college and had a job with NASA in Houston. The space program was more important than a war several thousand miles away, and the jobs came with a draft deferment. I ran into Jimmy at a high school foot-ball game in 1969. He had put on a few pounds, didn't look like the all-district tackle from high school. Jimmy was married, had a kid, taught at a junior high. He said we were doing the right thing in Vietnam. We had to stop those Communists somewhere. But: "I've got a wife and kid, Bob. I can't become involved in a war thousands of miles from home."
That takes care of everybody but Charley.
See, the thing is, Charley didn't have to go in that burning house. He could have been just like the rest of us, stayed outside and watched it burn. But Charley wasn't like that. Peoples' things would be lost if somebody didn't do something. And although Charley had absolutely nothing in common with the superintendent, he went inside the burning house. Charley knew what had to be done, what he had to do. “Maybe we can save some of their stuff.”
In 1965, Charley enlisted in the Army. He went to Vietnam and he died there.
In 1989, I was in Dallas on Army business. I went to Fair Park. There's a monument there, lists the names of Texans who died in Vietnam. There were a few names I wanted to see; one in particular. I found him.
COLLIER, CHARLEY HOLTON
9 MARCH 1947-15 NOVEMBER 1965
Mt. Pleasant, Texas
I never knew Charley's middle name.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Show me the money!
Sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison on not working for free. Not for anything.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mj5IV23g-fE
(Language warning.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mj5IV23g-fE
(Language warning.)
College 'R Us?
Back in March the heads of Arkansas four-year universities signed a pledge that their schools will double the number of degrees by 2025.
Now, you can’t throw a dead cat here in Arkansas and not hit a college or university. The Big One, the University of Arkansas, besides its main campus at Fayetteville, has colleges in five other cities – Fort Smith, Little Rock, Monticello, Pine Bluff and a medical school in Little Rock. Arkansas State’s main campus is in Jonesboro, with locations also in Beebe, Heber Springs, Mountain Home and Newport. Then there are Arkansas Tech, in Russellville; Henderson State, in Arkadelphia; Southern Arkansas, in Magnolia; and the University of Central Arkansas, in Conway. Those are the state colleges. Add the 14 two-year colleges (18 locations), 10 religious or private colleges and two private two-year colleges … Well, there’s a bunch of schools.
To double the number of degrees pretty much means doubling the number of college graduates. But, the number of schools does not mean a large amount of educated students.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette pointed out in a March 28 editorial:
“Last time we checked, which was just in February, the number of college students in Arkansas who needed remedial classes had jumped from 51.3 percent to 54.6 percent. If this is progress, what would retrogression be?
“When this year’s college entrants in Arkansas were tested, 46.1 percent needed a remedial course in math before they could go on. And 33.7 percent required remedial work in English. Two-thirds of the students who needed remedial work needed it in at least two subjects.”
So, will the colleges and universities somehow smart-up high school graduates, or maybe, just possibly, dumb down college classes? And if more than half the students already in college had to have remedial classes, how much down will future classes be dumbed?
Now, you can’t throw a dead cat here in Arkansas and not hit a college or university. The Big One, the University of Arkansas, besides its main campus at Fayetteville, has colleges in five other cities – Fort Smith, Little Rock, Monticello, Pine Bluff and a medical school in Little Rock. Arkansas State’s main campus is in Jonesboro, with locations also in Beebe, Heber Springs, Mountain Home and Newport. Then there are Arkansas Tech, in Russellville; Henderson State, in Arkadelphia; Southern Arkansas, in Magnolia; and the University of Central Arkansas, in Conway. Those are the state colleges. Add the 14 two-year colleges (18 locations), 10 religious or private colleges and two private two-year colleges … Well, there’s a bunch of schools.
To double the number of degrees pretty much means doubling the number of college graduates. But, the number of schools does not mean a large amount of educated students.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette pointed out in a March 28 editorial:
“Last time we checked, which was just in February, the number of college students in Arkansas who needed remedial classes had jumped from 51.3 percent to 54.6 percent. If this is progress, what would retrogression be?
“When this year’s college entrants in Arkansas were tested, 46.1 percent needed a remedial course in math before they could go on. And 33.7 percent required remedial work in English. Two-thirds of the students who needed remedial work needed it in at least two subjects.”
So, will the colleges and universities somehow smart-up high school graduates, or maybe, just possibly, dumb down college classes? And if more than half the students already in college had to have remedial classes, how much down will future classes be dumbed?
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Texas is what makes you
Several years ago a friend in Red River County was invited to take part in a Texas Historical Association-sponsored to-do at Clarksville Cemetery. Jim’s oldest Texas ancestor was buried in the cemetery in 1838, and had emigrated to Texas in the 1820s as a member of the Wavell Colony.
At one point in the event, Jim said, he and a young woman from the commission were standing next to Jim’s ancestor’s grave.
“She pointed at the small stone at the foot of the grave, and she said, ‘What’s that?’” (The small stone is inscribed “George Faithful Servant And Friend.”)
Jim said, “I told her that back in those days tradition was when a man died, his body servant was buried with him. She said, ‘They did not do that!’ From her expression, I knew she didn’t know whether to believe me or not.”
I said, “She wanted to believe you, didn’t she.”
“I think she did,” Jim said. He got a serious expression. “It’s a funny thing – People go to Austin, they change. Austin changes people.”
I’ve noticed that about different parts of Texas, especially those parts whose inhabitants want to tell you what a real Texan is. Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston – I’ve heard it from people in all those places, from Amon Carter’s “Fort Worth is where the West begins and Dallas is where the East peters out,” to the Urban Cowboy types in the mid-to-late-1970s. Especially galling, though, are the non-Texans (East Coasters and Left Coasters usually) who think they can tell the rest of the country about Texas and Texans. “All hat and no cattle,” I read many times about former President George W. Bush, the statement always made or written by a limp-wristed pinky-raiser who read it from an Ann Richards speech. But I am not writing about those people.
Jim said one time, “Any movie made about Texas, when the character enters, the movie has scenes from somewhere west of Wichita Falls. If they go farther east, it looks like Louisiana or Arkansas.”
Fact is, most Texans of early importance came into the state in what today is northern Red River County. Sam Houston, James Bowie, David Crockett all crossed the Red River to the no-longer-there town of Jonesborough (or Jonesboro). In the same area were Pecan Point, Mrs. Gaffney’s Landing, Bryerly’s Landing and Wright’s Landing, the first three downstream and the third upstream of Jonesboro. Ben Milam took the first steamboat up the Red as far as Jonesboro. The Wright house is the oldest house in Texas continuously occupied by the same family. The house has undergone changes since 1853, but still has the original floor, some of the original walls and original bois d’arc underpinnings.
Wright Landing used to be due south across the Red River from Fort Towson Landing. That changed in 1840 when the river bed moved a couple miles north following a flood. The same flood took out Jonesboro.
All that remains at the Jonesboro site now is a house surrounded by a chain link fence. Pecan Point remains only as an area of scattered pieces of iron from a grist mill, and a few foundation stones.
At one point in the event, Jim said, he and a young woman from the commission were standing next to Jim’s ancestor’s grave.
“She pointed at the small stone at the foot of the grave, and she said, ‘What’s that?’” (The small stone is inscribed “George Faithful Servant And Friend.”)
Jim said, “I told her that back in those days tradition was when a man died, his body servant was buried with him. She said, ‘They did not do that!’ From her expression, I knew she didn’t know whether to believe me or not.”
I said, “She wanted to believe you, didn’t she.”
“I think she did,” Jim said. He got a serious expression. “It’s a funny thing – People go to Austin, they change. Austin changes people.”
I’ve noticed that about different parts of Texas, especially those parts whose inhabitants want to tell you what a real Texan is. Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston – I’ve heard it from people in all those places, from Amon Carter’s “Fort Worth is where the West begins and Dallas is where the East peters out,” to the Urban Cowboy types in the mid-to-late-1970s. Especially galling, though, are the non-Texans (East Coasters and Left Coasters usually) who think they can tell the rest of the country about Texas and Texans. “All hat and no cattle,” I read many times about former President George W. Bush, the statement always made or written by a limp-wristed pinky-raiser who read it from an Ann Richards speech. But I am not writing about those people.
Jim said one time, “Any movie made about Texas, when the character enters, the movie has scenes from somewhere west of Wichita Falls. If they go farther east, it looks like Louisiana or Arkansas.”
Fact is, most Texans of early importance came into the state in what today is northern Red River County. Sam Houston, James Bowie, David Crockett all crossed the Red River to the no-longer-there town of Jonesborough (or Jonesboro). In the same area were Pecan Point, Mrs. Gaffney’s Landing, Bryerly’s Landing and Wright’s Landing, the first three downstream and the third upstream of Jonesboro. Ben Milam took the first steamboat up the Red as far as Jonesboro. The Wright house is the oldest house in Texas continuously occupied by the same family. The house has undergone changes since 1853, but still has the original floor, some of the original walls and original bois d’arc underpinnings.
Wright Landing used to be due south across the Red River from Fort Towson Landing. That changed in 1840 when the river bed moved a couple miles north following a flood. The same flood took out Jonesboro.
All that remains at the Jonesboro site now is a house surrounded by a chain link fence. Pecan Point remains only as an area of scattered pieces of iron from a grist mill, and a few foundation stones.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
We know what is best for you
“As Dambisa Moyo and others suggest, it is time for rich Western nations to provide less aid, fewer restrictions – and much more trade, investment and banking expertise and opportunity; business, agricultural and property rights know-how; and energy technologies that will harness and utilize abundant, reliable, affordable hydrocarbon energy. They also need to stop propagating scare stories and imposing restrictions on the use of hybrid and genetically modified seeds to reduce malnutrition, and insecticides to reduce disease.”
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/04/02/better-living-through-electricity/#more-37128
Western environmentalists: Our countries were developed on fossil fuels, but it was a bad thing, so you poor countries have to listen to us and not use your own fossil fuels.
China: You have lots of stuff. We want to help you develop your resources. Also, we will pay good money to have a percentage of those resources sent to our country.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/04/02/better-living-through-electricity/#more-37128
Western environmentalists: Our countries were developed on fossil fuels, but it was a bad thing, so you poor countries have to listen to us and not use your own fossil fuels.
China: You have lots of stuff. We want to help you develop your resources. Also, we will pay good money to have a percentage of those resources sent to our country.
Art who?
"The chimpanzee's stuff is good, I like how he plays with metaphors about depth of field, but I think I like this guy Rothko a little bit better."
The chimp “plays with metaphors”?
http://reason.com/archives/2011/04/05/but-is-it-art
The chimp “plays with metaphors”?
http://reason.com/archives/2011/04/05/but-is-it-art
A change of pace
“A declassified FBI memo revealed today that the bureau kept a senior ABC News journalist as a potential confidential informant during the 1990's. The journalist, who was not named, was repeatedly questioned for information about the Oklahoma City bombing.
“The journalist not only cooperated, but provided the identity of a confidential source, a drastic breach in journalistic ethics. The source had provided an uncorroborated tip to ABC during the network's early coverage of the bombing.”
http://www.thirdage.com/news/fbi-memo-reveals-abc-news-journalist-was-treated-informant_4-5-2011
Use of a journalist as a confidential informant “is a drastic breach in journalism ethics,” but no one seems to care that a nationally known, non-profit civil rights organization also works with the FBI to keep track of political opponents.
Southern Poverty Law head Morris Dees “confirmed the presence of an informant at Elohim City at a recent press conference, the paper reported.
"’If I told you what we were doing there, I would have to kill you,’ Dees replied when asked to explain.”
Declassified FBI memo
reveals twists in probe http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=22643#ixzz1IkkI1ow0
The SPLC has done good work, but seems to have changed and expanded its outlook.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_organizations_designated_by_the_Southern_Poverty_Law_Center_as_hate_groups
Incluided in the hate group list are the American Family Association and James Dobson’s Family Research Council, as well as real terrorists and haters, such as various forms of the KKK, New Black Panther Party and a number of Nazi organizations.
“The journalist not only cooperated, but provided the identity of a confidential source, a drastic breach in journalistic ethics. The source had provided an uncorroborated tip to ABC during the network's early coverage of the bombing.”
http://www.thirdage.com/news/fbi-memo-reveals-abc-news-journalist-was-treated-informant_4-5-2011
Use of a journalist as a confidential informant “is a drastic breach in journalism ethics,” but no one seems to care that a nationally known, non-profit civil rights organization also works with the FBI to keep track of political opponents.
Southern Poverty Law head Morris Dees “confirmed the presence of an informant at Elohim City at a recent press conference, the paper reported.
"’If I told you what we were doing there, I would have to kill you,’ Dees replied when asked to explain.”
Declassified FBI memo
reveals twists in probe http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=22643#ixzz1IkkI1ow0
The SPLC has done good work, but seems to have changed and expanded its outlook.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_organizations_designated_by_the_Southern_Poverty_Law_Center_as_hate_groups
Incluided in the hate group list are the American Family Association and James Dobson’s Family Research Council, as well as real terrorists and haters, such as various forms of the KKK, New Black Panther Party and a number of Nazi organizations.
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