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Letters to the Editor

Pfeifer misleads public about sheriff

In response to Commissioner Peter Pfeifer's recent letter, I too am let down and saddened.

Many of us who just want to see the tensions healed between the sheriff and the Board of Commissioners thought Commissioner Pfeifer may emerge as the voice of reason. Obviously we now know that's not going to happen.

I have listened to both sides. Because of that, I know there were a lot of misleading representations in Commissioner Pfeifer's letter. The citizens should not be misled. I feel the need to state what I have learned so that everyone knows both sides.

Sheriff Randall Johnson could not be accused of obstructing real discussions on the issues between him and the Board of Commissioners because there are no discussions whatsoever going on between them.

The Board of Commissioners has only communicated with the sheriff through letters and attorneys and has never made any attempt to resolve any of the issues. Their position remains, "Do it our way or no way."

Sheriff Johnson is a constitutional officer who is supposed to answer only to the people and not the Board of Commissioners.

I would say to Commissioner Pfeifer that if you think the sheriff is thinking of things other than public safety, it would be because the Board of Commissioners will not leave him alone so he can concentrate on those things.

Sheriff Johnson has always been reelected with overwhelming numbers by the public (unlike you in your last election.) It is clear who the citizens of Fayette County want making their public safety decisions.

It is true that the sheriff accepted prisoners from the marshals for years. This is because during those years he had been told they were marshals.

It was only when the sheriff began receiving complaints from citizens that the marshals had become much more aggressive, making traffic stops when they were supposed to be enforcing county ordinances, that the sheriff became concerned.

Now this Board of Commissioners is claiming that the marshals have actually been county police since they were formed in 1989, even though, in the minutes of that County Commission meeting, a county commissioner clearly stated, "This is not and will not be a county police force."

Either we weren't told the truth back then or we're not being told the truth now.

How can this Board of Commissioners tell us the intent of a County Commission from 16 years ago when that same board clearly stated their intent at that time and to this day say they were not forming a county police department?

When Commissioner Pfeifer began discussing Drug Task Force funds is when I really became disappointed. That's when the letter really became very misleading.

The sentence which stated their goal was "having the Sheriff's Department follow the same rules as other folks" troubles me.

First of all, no other county agency is seizing federal drug money. Secondly, the sheriff is following the same rules all law enforcement agencies are required to follow by the United States Justice Department, the agency the sheriff is accountable to for that money.

If he were not following their rules, he would not be receiving the money.

Sheriff Johnson is not accountable to the Board of Commissioners on how he spends that money other than informing that board on what those expenditures have been.

In addition Sheriff Johnson has always allowed auditors hired by the Board of Commissioners to audit those funds annually.

A sitting county commissioner telling the citizens that those funds are not accounted for is a sad misrepresentation from a public official who knows better.

The fact that the Board of Commissioners is now going to stop Fayette County from receiving those funds is even sadder.

Those sheriff's drug investigators have brought in well over a million dollars of tax-free money which provided equipment taxpayers won't have to pay for.

It is appalling that this board will deprive Fayette County of that money simply because they cannot control it.

What is even more appalling is that the drug dealers will now be allowed to keep their money and finance their drug activities at a time when drugs are seriously invading Fayette County.

This one act alone has changed my entire opinion of everyone on this Board of Commissioners.

That brings up another point. The board refused to provide the sheriff with any additional drug investigators at this critical time of growth in Fayette County.

Telling the sheriff that he should draw from other areas within his budget forcing that department to suffer less manpower during this time of incredible growth is irresponsible.

This forces the sheriff to fall short in some areas of law enforcement to fill the void in others, a void which could easily have been filled by the Board of Commissioners.

Criticizing the sheriff for the budget process is perhaps the most unfair portion of Commissioner Pfeifer's letter.

Sheriff Johnson has no control over the budget process. The Board of Commissioners lays down all of the rules on the budget process without ANY input from Sheriff Johnson. The law requires that his budget be divided by divisions and that is how the Board of Commissioners require him to present it. A county commissioner should know that.

Lastly, Commissioner Pfeifer, I have to strongly disagree with your statement that "the commission, individual commissioners and commission staff members have made NO public comments in the newspapers or in letters attributing ANY motives or reasoning to ANY member of the Sheriff's Department."

Commissioner Pfeifer, have you not been reading the paper? Did you not read Commissioner Dunn's letter attacking members of the Sheriff's Department? Did you not read all of the unprofessional comments attacking our Sheriff's Department? Comments made only after the Board of Commissioners was criticized and which obviously came from some or all on our board.

You are not the only one let down and saddened.

Greg Norred

Fayetteville, Ga.

Commissioners not out to try to 'get' sheriff

People have motives and they have a point of view. This is true of the Sheriff's Department, media, commissioners and whoever.

I'm reminded of a comment made to me many years ago by then-Commissioner Rick Price. It was during a heated discussion of the future Lake McIntosh (yes, the SAME Lake McIntosh).

Rick said, "Some of these people must think that we (the commission) really sit around and say, 'How can we screw up the environment today?'"

This was foolish then and it's still foolish. The commission does not sit around and say, "How can we screw up law enforcement today?"

What motivations could the commission have? It could be to obtain the best possible service for the citizens at the lowest possible cost to the taxpayers (something I've said before that motivates me). Even if my answer might be wrong in a particular situation, I am not perfect, that's still always my motivation.

How might commissioners really feel about keeping crime under control? We take an oath to protect the interests of the citizens of Fayette County, so it's the right thing to do.

We also live here, too, and for many, so do our families. We own homes here and don't want our property value to go in the tank. We want low crime.

During my last run for office, my opponent "accused" me of wanting to have control. If you elect me to be a commissioner and one of the responsibilities of a commissioner is to look out for your tax dollars and your safety, then if I don't exercise any control, I'm not doing my job.

The commission represents you, the people. This job (commissioner) is neither our career nor a "full-time job" although we often spend full-time hours on it.

Think about it. The commission has absolutely nothing to gain by distorting the truth or by attempting to get you to react one way or another.

I am not going to follow the example set by those in the Sheriff's Department and recently by the sheriff himself and make up unpleasant accusations of imaginary thoughts or motivations about the sheriff. I am not going to attribute any motives to their actions. That's your job.

The sheriff has said that the marshal duplicates services provided by the sheriff.

Do you think that's true? Back in 1989, a resolution was passed that said, "the County Marshal is hereby granted police power including the power of arrest ... The County Marshal shall have the power to make arrests and to execute and return criminal warrants and processes in Fayette County, and all the powers of the Sheriff as peace officers in Fayette County."

To me that's pretty clear, and the law should be clear without someone having to "interpret" for us plain folks. That's what the judge decided too.

So what does this "County Police Force/Marshal's Office" do? Their current purpose is to patrol county property, such as parks, recreation areas and water system property including the lakes. The Marshall's Office also patrols the county to enforce local ordinances such as the sign ordinance.

Since the Sheriff's Department does NOT do these things, the marshal is not duplication.

One of the citizens who addressed the commission recently about crime control and staffing was concerned about the new recreation park in Kenwood. The truth is that the sheriff does not patrol the old parks and would not patrol a new park.

While the marshals are circulating, they also provide an additional service. Because they are police, if they observe a criminal action, they can and should act.

The case that the Sheriff's Department used to start this recent dispute came from just such a situation.

A county marshal observed a drunk driver and arrested them. Even though the sheriff, that time, refused to hold the person in our jail, if the marshal had not arrested them, we would have had another drunk driver careening around our community.

If we didn't have the Marshal's Office, and if marshals were not police officers, a lot of local ordinances would not and could not be enforced. Is anyone suggesting that?

And, incidentally, the Sheriff's Department has said in many releases that we have 12 marshals. We have nine. That is a fact that you can easily check.

One more quote: "Truth will ultimately prevail." George Washington said that.

This Commission has NEVER, to my knowledge, offered to "help out" the Sheriff's Department on issues of crime, investigation, public safety, etc. We do not have the expertise or the daily operational knowledge that would be necessary to do that.

The county has centralized accounting and purchasing for items such as fuel and computers.

The Commission HAS offered to "help out" by doing tasks and jobs that are NOT law-enforcement-related. The Sheriff's Department has insisted on doing their own accounting, purchasing, etc.

Is that the way it goes where you work? Each department does its own thing?

If the Sheriff's Department were NOT attempting to duplicate these existing services and to do these tasks, they would have additional time and manpower available to place wherever they see the most important and critical law enforcement needs. THAT is their job, isn't it?

Peter Pfeifer

County Commission, Post 3

Peachtree City, Ga.

Why focus on negative?

Amphitheater/Tennis Center comments: This article could have been turned around totally. A profit will be made. Why highlight the negative when it would have been just as easy to highlight the positive?

I see no reason the headline couldn't have read, "Amphitheater turns a profit in 2005."

Brock Dorminy

Lake City, Ga.

PTC Youth Council has outstanding year

My heartfelt congratulations go to our Peachtree City Youth Council for their magnificent accomplishment with the "Summer Jam 2005" concert at the amphitheater. The event was a big success and offered quality entertainment in a safe environment.

Several years ago we were subjected to the taunts of the nay-sayers that said that our teenagers were hard to deal with and were incapable of participating in supervised events. Many said that we were wasting city tax dollars by creating the Youth Council.

Thank you, my beloved teenagers, for proving them wrong! All of their activities have been successful.

Our Youth Council allows students from high schools outside of Peachtree City to participate, and we have some very talented young men and women from Fayette County High School in our program as well.

We have stressed giving all our teens an opportunity to succeed. In addition, we do not select students for the Youth Council based upon their grade point average or achievements. Any local teenager can become a voting member of the council.

In addition to planning and carrying out concerts and rafting trips, they also perform community service projects.

Currently, the Youth Council is playing a vital role in the Teen Court process that will have a major impact on our community for years to come.

Art Sivertsen with our Recreation Staff has done an incredible job working with the Youth Council. Mr. Sivertsen was selected as the city employee of the month for July.

The overwhelming majority of our teenagers are doing the right things and are great to be around. The students that participated in our summer internship program this year were exceptional.

If you have any doubts about our future, I suggest that you become more involved with our high school students to witness their talents and abilities that far surpass the students of yesteryear.

Thank you, Peachtree City Youth Council, for doing such a fantastic job representing our youth from all over the county.

Steve Brown, mayor

Peachtree City, Ga.

EMC wind tests must protect migrating birds

I saw the article where the EMC Green will put a testing station on Rocky Mountain in Floyd County. They will test for wind speed, direction, temperature, and other meteorological data.

But will they be testing for migration patterns of birds, something that wasn't investigated at other "wind farms"?

Meanwhile down the road, the property owner and wildlife officials get a little upset at seeing the headless and mangled carcasses of our find feathered friends laying scattered about the base of the windmills in a 30-foot radius.

Floyd County is at the southern tip of what spelunkers know as the North Georgia cave region. I do know that bats also migrate and have run into the whirling blades and got the same treatment as the birds did at other wind farms.

Don't get me wrong: I am all for exploring different methods of keeping my computer, AC and lights running.

For instance, damming rivers create lakes, which create construction and real estate jobs selling houses on the shore. All the while, fish that can only live in flowing water cease to exist unless they can move to another stream.

Nuclear power has its own nightmare of problems of water usage and waste disposal (Keep it out of my back yard, say Nevada residents) but, by golly, it puts out some mega-wattage.

Natural steam vents are used to generate power in Greenland but that's a little too far to run power lines.

Landfill gas is helping and keeps the gas out of my backyard. But we must create the landfill, (not in my backyard) before we can create the gas.

Coal-fired steam generators are creating dangerous jobs in the mining areas, pumping CO2 gas into the ozone greenhouse layer, and providing the railroads with cargo to move, but creates mega-wattage.

So whereas there is no single good solution to creating electrical power, we do what we can with what we got.

Still, I do not want to see a wholesale slaughter of flying animals just to run my video game if the towers can be located in a safe area.

Bryant Betsill

Fayetteville, Ga.

Compassion does exist

If this were truly a perfect world, as portrayed by Norman Rockwell, "our Andy" should have been spending these long hot summer days in Mayberry, under Aunt Bea's kitchen table with the aroma of apple pies twirling around the room.

Instead, "our Andy" spent three excruciating hot and painful days in a thicket beside a stranger's driveway in a rural area. There was no Aunt Bea to comfort him or offer him a bowl of cool water.

You see, our Andy is a dog that someone discarded. He was hit by a motorist who then left him for dead. This is where the compassion comes in.

Two caring senior women battled the brambles and devised a makeshift stretcher. They said that as they got him onto the blanket, his brown eyes were wide with fear, but also had a shimmer of hope.

He is now at Auburn University in Alabama where surgery will hopefully restore his mobilization. Andy has a broken back, but because there are so many compassionate people, Andy will be given the chance to once again run after squirrels or just lounge under that kitchen table.

His medical bills will be exorbitant and his post-surgical care will need a special person.

Georgia Heartland Humane Society is trying to absorb the cost of his surgery and medical care. We will keep our Web site, www.gaheartland.com, updated with his progress.

Sherry Mustic

President of GaHeartland

Fayetteville, Ga.

Who's a hack partisan?

I wanted to take a moment to point out a couple of items that our esteemed young friend Alan Sarvis of Peachtree City may be overlooking in his commentary to the editor titled, "Bush's pick for court a partisan hack."

Mr. Sarvis, I'm not too sure of exactly what our government-subsidized school systems teach young minds anymore, but you may be interested to know that for the most part presidential nominees to the Supreme Court have usually had leanings moderate, liberal or conservative toward their parties' agenda.

In some cases a president may nominate an individual whom they believe lean in their favor but once appointed turn out to be totally different than believed.

When Bill Clinton nominated Steven G. Breyer I think it was safe to believe that Justice Breyer leaned quite heavily toward liberal views.

When Mr. Clinton nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I again think it was safe to say she leaned even more heavily toward being an ultra liberal.

Do you see a picture developing here? If you go back and look at current and former justices nominated to the court, you will see an even larger picture.

In my own humble opinion, I believe that President Reagan was quite possibly the most noted and recent president to nominate two individuals to the Supreme Court who may have gone above party lines because he may have believed they would lean toward a more conservative view but have in fact shown themselves to be "wolves in sheep's clothing" as both justices Kennedy and O'Conner have voted more toward liberal views than conservative.

My point in all of this is when a liberal-leaning president wants a liberal as a justice, the news media tends to concentrate on more "important" issues, but when a conservative president wants to nominate a conservative as a justice, the news media makes concerted efforts to locate any form of negative publicity they can find.

Clarence Thomas is a perfect case in point. Every charge and character assassination leveled at him when he was nominated for the Supreme Court came from what direction? The liberal news media and an ultra liberal Democrat named Anita Hill.

Did the media make any attempt to check out her past record or views? Of course not; she was leading the charge to defeat a conservative justice nominee.

It seems that history is filled with liberal beliefs that what is good for them should always be good for everyone else.

The truth, Mr. Sarvis, is the Democratic Party as a whole has for years been a ship with no rudder. The party as a whole has no direction and no real leadership to try and point them in any direction.

The reason for this confusion in their own little house is for many years the Democratic Party worked to get votes from any segment of our population whom they could fool into voting for their nominees.

Using words like racism, homophobic, universal medical care and many other terms they can manipulate for their own gains have led to utter disarray and no sense of direction.

You see, you can't trust that the Democrats as a whole or individuals will do what they say or in many cases say what they will do.

Let me say also that if you will keep your eyes on what looks to be the Democratic Party's future "savior," Hillary Clinton, watch closely as she wiggles and wobbles in order to retain her current seat in the next New York state elections and as she will pounce on the desire to run for president in 2008.

You will see a master dance and deceive as no other since her own husband. Oh, one other thing the media keeps forgetting to write about in the case of Karl Rove: and I quote, "Here's something for you to think about ... assuming, of course, that you aren't so deeply entrenched in the liberal mentality that the idea of actually thinking about something is out of the question.

"Where do we get the idea that Valerie Plane was an undercover agent for the CIA when Rove had his conversation with Time Magazine Reporter Matthew Cooper? From Bush critic Joe Wilson and from the media, that's where. At no time has there been any confirmation that Plame was covert. If she wasn't covert, there is no crime."

I applaud a 17-year-old teenager for showing interest in our government and of those who run it. I would just recommend that you do some research when it concerns accusations being leveled at anyone. Base your beliefs on fact, not fiction, and you will go far.

John Nance

Fayetteville, Ga.

Benedict Arnold & friends

I thank Mr. Arnold for his resume. I myself was recently featured in the "National Falling Off the Roof" magazine, but enough about me.

Among his gifts, Mr. Arnold believes himself capable of expressing very clearly what is on his mind.

I agree. It is very clear he has an unwarranted high opinion of his talents. Clearly he mistakes both gainsay and assertion for reasoning. Clearly he has a dictionary and can read it.

He should have looked up "prolonged" which, like "liberal" and "conservative" might depend on where you're standing. And just as clearly, he likes to paint with broad brushstrokes. Unfortunately he is no literary Monet.

The purpose of my diatribe was to expose Mr. Arnold for what he actually is: a shallow thinking ultra-partisan.

Advancing the idea that all "liberal" Democrats are anti-military ought to be patent nonsense to the most casual observer.

Yet, the poisoned spirit inspired by the likes of Newt Gingrich and carried on by talk radio today makes such assertions not only plausible, but expected.

Mr. Arnold didn't counter my logic, nor my facts, but instead dismissed everything out of hand.

If one assumes a "liberal" is by definition "anti-military" and one assumes that all "liberals" are members of the Democratic Party, it is much easier at that point to paint essentially the whole Democratic Party as both liberal and anti-military. You only need to continue to fold the argument by asserting one or the other.

Really, where Mr. Arnold excels is his ability to avoid all those nasty details which tend to lend weight to or discount a hypothesis.

For example he writes: "The truth be known, the two presidents that (sic) preceded Nixon, both Democrats, began and expanded the war in Vietnam and Nixon got us out in 1974."

Well, kind of, but not really. Kennedy didn't "begin" the war, LBJ did expand the war, and Nixon got us out in 1974 with the same terms he would have gotten in 1968, but after the expenditure of 24,000 more U.S. lives. I could go into a lot more detail, but why bother?

Mr. Arnold also likes setting the rules. Last time I looked, Mr. Beverly was the publisher for this newspaper, and if he wished to limit people to 200 words, he certainly has the power to do so. Brevity may be convenient, but it seldom informs.

Mr. Arnold's brevity may spring from a desire for brief clarity, or may also be the necessity of an insufficient base.

And by the way, the French were not cowardly at Hastings (win), Crecy, Poitiers, Agincourt (loss but eventual win), the Plains of Abraham (loss), Yorktown (win), Bratislava (win), Waterloo (loss), Verdun (win), the blitz (loss and the only thing Mr. Arnold remembers).

Their soldiers have often been poorly led, but anyone who asserts some sort of French national cowardice is ... ignorant.

Timothy J. Parker

Peachtree City, Ga.

Thank you, Harry Truman

I would like to take this opportunity to say, "Thank you and God bless you, Harry Truman."

It is my firm belief that I am alive today because of the courage of President Truman and his steel determination to bring a victorious conclusion to World War II.

On this, the 60th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, I would like to take a moment to honor the man who likely allowed my father, and untold millions of others, a reprieve from having to invade Japan.

Estimates had been given to Truman that losses to American forces would be anywhere from 200,000 to 1 million and, since the Japanese had sworn to fight to the last man, their losses would likely have approached 4 million.

Faced with the difficult decision of either dropping the most powerful bomb ever developed on a city in Japan or invading the island and suffering the losses mentioned above, Truman made the choice that saved the most lives.

That decision likely saved the life of my father, who was a 17-year-old sailor at the time stationed in the Pacific Ocean. It allowed him the chance to live and raise a family.

In a roundabout way, it allowed me to do the same. The decision also allowed millions of Japanese men and women that same opportunity.

President Truman made his decision, without malice, and as a last resort. The Muslim fanatics that we are at war with today would like nothing better than to use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against as many cities in the West as they could and without a single drop of remorse. It is high time Americans face this reality.

This is a war between the civilized and the barbaric; between good and evil; between right and wrong; between US and them. The liberals need to decide which side they are on.

There is no room for middle ground.

Kevin D. Arnold

Fayetteville, Ga.

Now that kids are back in school, drive carefully

As children are beginning a new school year, some are experiencing "firsts" in their young lives: A kindergartners first day of school, a young boy or girl walking to school for the first time, a child transitioning from elementary to middle school, or maybe a newly licensed high-school student driving to school.

These first-time experiences can be daunting challenges for children ... and parents.

During the summer, we've become accustomed to driving on roads without school buses and we've all but forgotten about the school bus stops and crossing zones on our daily commutes to and from work.

But now, school bus stops and crossing zones are booming with hundreds of kids, and drivers need to pay extra attention over the next few weeks to ensure a safe start to the school year.

Children are at a disadvantage in most cases because they are less visible to motorists. Children are also less capable than adults of judging where and when it's safe to cross a street and less likely to fully understand the consequences of their potential misjudgments.

Statistics show that one-fifth of all children age 14 and under who die in motor vehicle crashes are pedestrians. Many of these fatalities are children who ran across the street while not paying attention to oncoming vehicles.

During the months of August and September, AAA Auto Club South will be carrying out its annual "School's Open - Drive Carefully" educational campaign, and the AAA School Safety Patrol members will be on full alert for dangerous situations. We ask that all drivers be on full alert too.

The best protection to avoid a fatal mistake is for drivers to slow down. Every mile per hour you reduce your speed allows for greater reaction time. This could be the difference between life and death for a child who unexpectedly darts across a street. And that child could be yours!

Whether it's the beginning, middle, or end of the year, always remember, "School's Open - Drive Carefully."

Dawn Landrum Wilson

Manager, Traffic Safety

AAA Auto Club South

Tampa, Fla.

Find some stuffed grape leaves as summer's fading song sounds again

When it comes to appreciating life, I'm in the same camp as my cousin Mark, who said that this summer he is not going to any famous college like his niece or a famous national park like his friends or fix military helicopters or make new defense weapons in secret places like his brother.

But instead he is going to erect a newly-purchased shed and enjoy the stuffed grape leaves that his wife prepared Middle Eastern-style especially for him.

Yes, Mark seems to have a good understanding of life's priorities, especially when it comes to enjoying stuffed grape leaves.

The last time I had real stuffed grape leaves was one evening at Uncle Johnny's house in Methuen, Mass., a few days after Aunty Betty's funeral. The memory is seared into my brain.

I knew at the time I was probably eating real grape leaves for the last time. While eating them, I sent my final farewell to my Aunty Betty and marked the end of an era.

While eating the stuffed grape leaves I drew a dividing line between a childhood of magical summers spent in Connecticut and Massachusetts and all that would follow. I knew there was no going back and little chance of bleeding the past into the future.

After reading my West Coast nephew's essay on his family's trips to Salisbury Beach, Mass., I wondered if at some point in time he would draw a similar line.

Here, down South, I occasionally hit "Middle Eastern" restaurants in search of the past, but never seem to score.

Occasionally I quiz my sister Betty while she flips through her Southern Living magazine on her knowledge of cooking stuffed grape leaves. Despite her transplanted Southern ways I know she sometimes slips into the past, but so far no luck.

It's a drag when things come to an end, and even more of a drag when "important" things are happening, but tend to go unrecognized, like sensing a cool summer breeze only after it passes by.

I guess I just got lucky with that last batch of grape leaves. Ironically, I don't even know which of my many cousins made them.

I know Mark's point wasn't specifically about grape leaves. I think he was reminding us that the simple things in life carry the greatest value. And I know it is somewhat cliche, but usually it is an ending, especially death, that tends to focus this aspect of human nature.

My dad's current situation with cancer kind of drives the point for me. It would have been nice if he was able to attend the end of school, beginning of summer ceremony recently held at Sandy Creek High School.

I think being there would have made him feel good and happy to be alive: his grandson David on stage, the little guy who outpaced his towering co-award winners, and Emily, goofy and graceful as she tripped on her flip-flops up the steps to receive her leadership award.

Such are the things that only parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, and cousins appreciate.

Not the award, not the recognition, not the goal, but the mere human, the blood and flesh of daily interaction, the mad rush to beat the other guy to the bathroom, the scramble out the door to make the bus, the inevitable glance back for that final goodbye.

Let the arbiters of greatness rearrange and cloak the everyday into the monumental. But for those of us who return that final goodbye, let us not forget.

Maybe that's the point. Maybe that is what my dad is saying. Maybe that is what that last batch of grape leaves said: remember that which we are leaving behind, and that which is leaving us behind.

Or maybe I'm just rambling or seeing something that isn't there. Maybe a mathematician needs to step in to lay it all out.

Sometimes life is a drag. It hits you when you least expect it. I think it was Kathleen who said it, when she mentioned that the West Coast essay made her cry.

Oh, well. Enjoy the fading summer, but don't hang on too tight. And if you are one of the lucky ones, eat some stuffed grape leaves, and have one for me.

r. j. desprez

Tyrone, Ga.