January 14, 2026–from David French in NEW YORK TIMES:
When I think of the contrast between Jesus’ life and ministry and the will to power that has consumed so many Christians, I’m reminded of the words usually attributed to Mahatma Gandhi: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
IN TOTAL
Karl Fleming -SON OF THE ROUGH SOUTH
Fleming will forever be remembered as the Newsweek reporter who was photographed after being severely beaten in the Watts riots of 1966. In this memoir, he recounts the long road that led to his reporting on race relations and the incendiary social issues that exploded that day. He was born in 1927 in a poor, bleak North Carolina community and raised in an orphanage when his mother could no longer afford to take care of him. Fleming left college early to begin life as a reporter with a small-town ( WILSON, NC ) newspaper, covering the police beat with a cynical police chief who mistreated blacks. It was Fleming’s first hint that, having grown up in an orphanage, his sympathies were with the underdog. He went on to cover the turbulent racial changes in the South, including James Meredith’s enrollment at the University of Mississippi and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr and Medgar Evers. In this stunning memoir, Fleming offers the perspective of a poor white boy witnessing the racial turbulence that changed the U.S. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
“A rich and absorbing book, a window into a time and place that defined America.” — Washington Post Book World, June 12, 2005
“Incredibly rich in history, in bravery and brutality, Karl Fleming’s Son of the Rough South is so beautifully written.” — Anne Lamott, author of Traveling Mercies
“It makes for a tense, harrowing, utterly gripping journey.” — Newsweek, May 23, 2005
“Karl Fleming knows how to tell a story.” — Frank McCourt, author of Angela’s Ashes and ‘Tis
“Their story will take the reader on a trip not soon forgotten of spirits unwilling to be broken.” — San Antonio Express-News, June 19, 2005.
“a vivid, often painful memoir…” — David Halberstam
“offers vibrant portraits of the most harrowing incidents of [the civil rights]…” — Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2005
…recovers for us a brace period of our recent history, and delivers it with all the sharp…edges perfectly intact. — Barton Chronicle, October 2005
FFFlemingsssssssss craft soars to a level of artful elegance with blunt, unsentimental language full of casual grace notes — The Nation, August 15 and 22, 2005.
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From New York Governor:
The governor, a Democrat, said that while she had struggled with the church’s position on the measure, she had come to believe that the issue was not about shortening life “but rather about shortening dying.”
“I do not believe that in every instance condemning someone to excruciating pain and suffering preserves the dignity and sanctity of life,” she continued.
She added, “I was taught that God is merciful and compassionate, and so must we be.”
OLD FARTS GAME PLAN ( from KERRY BURNIGHT )
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Tom Parham <ethomasparham@gmail.com> | 10:40 AM (6 minutes ago) | ||
to me | |||
I scoured the findings of 35 years of empirical testing on psychological wellbeing in longevity. The deeper I dug into the findings, the more I recognized a profound underlying pattern. The hundreds of predictors found in thousands of studies on what is necessary to thrive in longevity consistently group into four essential elements.
Grow: They continue to expand and explore.
Connect: They put time into new and existing relationships.
Adapt: They adjust to changing and challenging situations.
Give: They share themselves.
I asked ChatGPT to ” analyze, critique, summarize my total blog (www.tomparham.wordpress.com).” In less than a minute the link below popped up, followed quickly by several add-ons offered. Several personal reactions include:
3. In earlier writings I used the word POINT to describe the hit moment. Coach Jim Leighton advised that a pupil might misunderstand this terminology. Several of these references slipped by intended editing.
https://chatgpt.com/c/687a677d-cc00-800e-ad0b-b91574b6925f
“People get ready, there is a change coming. “
The first “small town” I lived in was Madison , NC ( Age 3 to 12 , 1943-1952 ). Mel’s Dad , Mutt–Mother, Polly–and sister, Carol went to my minister Father’s First Baptist church. While they were at our place on Sunday’s, our gang of boys gathered most days at the Steeles. Two main reasons were their family and their location near the banks of the Dan river.
I just read two biographies. One on Tom Brokow, the other on Al Pacino: What impressed me about Brokow’s was where he wound up , having a Father who quit school after the second grade. Pacino seemed to dwell on his childhood days , even in view of his fascinating acting career. I soon realized I do the same childhood “reflecting “. So when I read the article below ( see link
https://richardnilsen.com/tag/mel-steele/ ). And looked at Mel’s work I remember those days fondly. Mutt was a “man’s man”. First –he was a tough boxer! As we got older we appreciated that he was an accomplished tradesman, and teaching all kinds of skills to his talented Son.
Our move to another small NC village (Robbins, NC ) introduced me to Willis Williams. The late Dr. Williams , a classmate, was a world class surgeon, saving countless children with heart problems.
Dr. Willis H. Williams was a classmate of mine and a friend for over seventy years. His entire life through high school was lived in Robbins , NC.
He was eulogized by Dr; Robert Guyton.
I have enclosed a video of Dr. Williams funeral. Dr. Guyton’s talk appears at minutes 25 through 38.
There was also an Astronaut from that Moore County mill town.
My guess is small towns all over provide many opportunities .
I asked my friend Earl Boykin who the famous people from his home town of Rock Ridge, N.C. were?
” I guess me and Ava Gardner and Gov. Hunt were the pick of the litter.”
This is from an earlier article I wrote on March 19, 2025 (BALLOTS IN ) :
Will Universities indeed go bankrupt for actually endorsing “Academic Freedom?”
How about a DEI University?
Am I mistaken? Aren’t there alot of people who believe what we were taught?
Got a dictionary?– See egregious. See exigency. Endowment reserves? This is war time: Colleges and Universities, Administrations, Trustees, faculties, students, parents, donors, public educators and public patriots. Vote for education. Your silence is a vote for Fear.
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Barack Obama spoke at Hamilton College on April 3, 2025. In concluding his talk he admonished American Higher Education to act rather than just talk. And cited endowments as the way to protect “academic freedom”
Don’t bow down.
“There must be some way outta here, said the Joker to the Thief….”
The Little Green Book of Tennis 