HISTORY
A difficult time seen
through a child’s eyes
Jim Galloway’s column remembering a difficult and poignant time in our country’s history — and his own personal history — hit a chord with me (“JFK and the arc of Southern history,” Metro, Nov. 17).
This was a beautifully written piece, and it evoked for me a whole flood of memories regarding where I was and how I felt when President Kennedy was shot (and the subsequent killing of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.). For me, a second-grader growing up in the heartland, it was a lot to take in. That time certainly became a time of lost innocence.
Jim Galloway’s memories, with all their many layers, helped me remember that difficult but instructive time. The quote from his grade school classmate about MLK (“I don’t know why they killed him. He never hurt anybody”) brought tears to my eyes and reminded me that even a child — maybe, especially a child — can lead us in the arc toward justice.
ELAINE HOFFMAN, DECATUR
ATLANTA BRAVES
Why do suburbanites
have a fear of trains?
Imagine any non-Cobb Countian wending his way to the new Braves stadium via Dave Henson’s connect-the-dots road improvement plan at 1-285/I-75. Isn’t this interchange scary enough? Let’s make it worse (“One road solution for new ballpark,” Opinion, Nov. 19).
With a little therapy, Mr. Henson might get past his terror of railways and two-headed Atlantans, and find that a rail line from Arts Center station to the Galleria/Braves stadium area will smoothly feed game-goers from north Fulton, Gwinnett and Atlanta itself without mucking up the expressways further.
The bonus would be that “Cobbers” could go elsewhere by rail — even to the airport — once they overcome their fear of the unknown. I personally vow not to take advantage of the situation to ride out to Cobb County and pillage the place.
BOB EBERWEIN, ATLANTA
Money is motivator
behind secret deals
Why has secrecy become the rule when governments embark on expensive public/private endeavors such as the Atlanta Braves’ move to Cobb County, and the expansion of an airport in Paulding County? The answer is: “money.”
Money for whom, and for what? To what lengths do you go to prove yourself a business-friendly state or county on one hand, yet you are so vehemently opposed to laws such as the Affordable Care Act on the other? The answer — again — is “money.”
The reality is that there are not many politicians who champion the causes of the less fortunate. With that said, we’d do well to remember the quote from Louis Brandeis: “If the broad light of day could be let in upon men’s actions, it would purify them as the sun disinfects.”
RONALD D. JOHNSON, AUSTELL
COMMENTARY
Cheneys are victims
of artist’s crassness
Mike Luckovich’s recent cartoon, “Cheney Family Thanksgiving” (Opinion, Nov. 19) was crass, base and in crude taste.
I dare say that Mr. Luckovich wouldn’t have the nerve, in contrast, to characterize the present first family’s lavish lifestyle on the taxpayer dime.
RICHARD BAUMGARTEN, STONE MOUNTAIN
