From the Publisher

Everyone has this one person in his or her life that has made a difference. Sometimes it’s a family member but sometimes it’s someone who just walks in your life unexpectedly.

When we first moved to Pittsburg, I had seen him at church and knew who he was, but the day he walked in to Garrett Furniture (where I worked at the time) to ask me if I was interested in coming to work for him at the local newspaper changed my life.

It might have had something to do with my childhood. My daddy died in 1967 when I was 13. It was a troubled relationship with him because he was a severe alcoholic. He was never abusive or mean spirited to me and that was part of the problem. I looked up to him and went everywhere with him. He was always dressed to the max even when he went fishing, starched shirt and khakis with a nice everyday hat. He had been to mortuary school and worked for Smith-Bates Funeral Home in Mount Pleasant at the time. Abb Smith was his first cousin. Everyone called him “Speedy” Floyd because during those days he drove the ambulance whenever there was a need for one. Obviously, he earned his nickname by the way he drove.

There’s something about mortuary school where they teach you how to dress and how to have manners. That was one good thing he passed on to my sister and to me. But his alcoholism was something I was simply too young to understand and my mother could not live with it. After they divorced, he died in a wreck in 1967 and I lost my connection with the only true father figure in my life.

Obviously that was the way it was supposed to happen.

Some of you may know Dick White. Dick had many friends in the Daingerfield area and served on the Northeast Texas Municipal Water District for years. He sold the newspaper in the late 1980s so he’s been out of circulation except at church and the golf course. And now, he and his wife Jenny live in Austin around their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I see them from time to time when I’m there but I talk to them on the phone more. This couple is responsible for molding and shaping my life beyond words so if you don’t know them or him, hang with me for a few paragraphs and I will tell you how to be a saint.

I hope she doesn’t get mad at me (Jenny) for what I’m about to say but she maybe the most high-spirited woman I’ve ever known. And bossy? There’s no telling how many rooms Dick has rearranged, pieces of furniture he has moved in and out of the house and at the office, and how many dishes he has washed through the years. Now don’t feel sorry for him because she’s always moving faster and working harder than anyone. And he’s the first one to come to her defense. But just because she’s wound a little too tight doesn’t mean she’s not loving and kind. I love my husband but he will never be Dick White.

Dick is the person who shows other people how to love and to be kind.

He understands different personalities better than anyone, even if they are “three bricks shy of a load,” as (the late) John Bockmon would say. I’ll never forget we had this girl who worked for us and she just couldn’t fathom the art of taking a subscription. It’s not hard, so we were explaining to Dick how difficult she thought it was. We were actually telling on her and acting like it was a bigger problem than it was. He just looked at us and said, “She has a low IQ,” and walked away. But he was patient with her as he had been with all of us.

His gift is getting along with people who some people have a hard time understanding. One day a lady came in The Gazette and she was mad. I don’t remember why, but when she left she slammed the door so hard it broke the glass. Dick just called someone to come and fix the glass. If he ever let people (like her) get under his skin, he never showed it.

In fact, the only person(s) I ever knew who got under his skin were light bulb salesmen. Seems odd, but on the few occasions he slammed down the phone, we all looked at each other and said, “must have been a light bulb salesman.”

I remember some of the bad Lone Star Steel strikes in the early days because my mother worked for General Dynamics until 1969. For Dick it was a difficult time too as well as for the communities with those steel strikes. He also tackled divided citizens over school board issues and petty drama in the community. He would tell me about some of it and just point out the facts. I’m not sure if anyone else could weather the storms and be as successful and likeable in spite of it all the community drama.

I owe a lot to this couple that took a chance on me. I have called upon them in my darkest days and they seem to know how to encourage and “fix me” with love and understanding.

Teaching people how to love is difficult unless you’re an example of how it’s done. And Dick, I just wanted you to know - you’re my very favorite example. Happy Father’s Day.