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BUSINESS AS USUAL AT SPD Still one more clearly well-researched article by
Dusty Rhodes [“Opt out,” Nov. 8]. A very interesting and, I
felt, well-written article, particularly in its examination of the
differences and similarities between Tara Borders and Renatta Frazier. What continues to mystify me is how a police
department the size of Springfield’s can fail so miserably to
reasonably integrate their personnel. At this point it is difficult to
assign to this failure any reason other than a desire to discriminate
against minorities. I had hope that Mayor Tim Davlin would seriously
address this issue, but we now see it is and apparently will continue to be
business as usual. Tara Borders sounds like a winner — and those
in authority would, it seems to me, want to do whatever they can to hold on
to her.
Ed Lazarus Springfield
SHUT UP AND DRIVE Ever drive down the street and some idiot in front of
you is not using their signals? Better yet, they cut you off or pull out in
front of you, and then you notice that they are too busy to pay attention
to their driving because they are concentrating on talking on the cell
phone. How did we get along before cell phones came out? We went to a pay
phone or waiting until we got home and used the phone. Don’t get me
wrong: I have a cell phone, but you won’t catch me driving down the
street, yakking on it. In Florida you get a big fine if caught on the
phone. Can’t wait until it is that way here. Rose Luparell Buffalo
SIGNS, SHOULDERS
NEEDED This is my third year in attendance at the October
Conference on Illinois History held in Springfield. Actually I have been in
the city several times this year, attending various programs. With each
visit I allow myself extra time to explore.
Recently, I took the city bus to the community
college campus, asked for directions to the zoo, and began my walk. After
walking what seemed like forever, I stopped a woman driving her van out of
her driveway and asked, “Am I on the right way to the Lindsay
Bridge?” She reassured me and told me of the fork in the road. I did
find the bridge and the zoo. Needless to say it was quite an experience.
The city could use some direction signs. However, regarding the
“shoulder please” letter that appeared in your publication of
Sept. 20, I found the road in very good shape except for the lack of
shoulder space — each time a car approached there was nowhere to go.
The area is there and a bike/walk/jog/run path would be a real asset.
By the way I was the only visitor at the zoo that
morning and the animals were delighted to have company. Now came the walk
back, but that’s another story.
Charlotte Abarbanell
Evanston
WE NEED MORE PRIESTS Recently I received the Holy Eucharist from an old
friend. This act made it special for me, the way every Mass should be. I
never thought that this person would be a clergyman, but if our way is to
survive we need more like him. Twelve years ago, 10 men studied to enter
into the priesthood. Today there are even less. We need more young men to
accept the challenge for our future. Thomas W. Wente Springfield
GROWTH FOR GROWTH’S SAKE? In reading about the latest Springfield architectural
gem facing demolition, the Maisenbacher house, I would like to remind
others of a glaring analogy: the nature of the medical industry mimics the
nature of a malignant tumor, which is growth for growth’s sake. A
tumor invades and destroys healthy tissues; a medical “campus”
invades and destroys historic neighborhoods. I was a regular patient at the Springfield Clinic
during my youth in the 1950s and ’60s. It was a benign neighborhood
facility then. Now it is just another sprawling, metastasizing complex. The
medical industry in this country thrives on an ever-burgeoning, ill
population. To protect healthy historic neighborhoods and
structures from invasion and destruction by this malignant industry, there
should be some kind of “reverse eminent domain” law whereby
significant historic properties could be exchanged at fair market value for
less historic properties. Frequently medical facilities just create parking
lots on bulldozed historic properties to accommodate more patients.
The only sure way to slow the growth of the malignant
medical industry is for us to simply take better care of our health and to
apply the Hippocratic Oath to ourselves: “Do no harm.”
Robert Waldmire Rochester
REMEMBERING TOM TEAGUE I was listening to my old friend and Army buddy
Kirk Farah on WMAY (970 AM) the other day and, struck by memories of
Illinois, started to reread Tom Teague’s Route 66 book, Searching for 66. Sitting here
in Arlington, Va., where I live near my job as a federal employee at
the Pentagon, it’s easy to miss central Illinois. I came across your 2004 article on Tom’s
passing and wanted to let you know how he affected my life [see Dusty
Rhodes, “The road home,” Sept. 16, 2004].
After a long run here in Washington, I decided
I’d had enough and moved to a place I’d never lived before,
Charleston. There, times were hard at first as I looked for work and
adjusted to the pace. My son, then in middle school, was enjoying our new
home. All seemed well.
Many nights I would sit in the Dixie Truckers Home in
Tuscola, reading want ads and rewriting my résumé. Most of
the time, all I could afford was a cup of coffee or splurge for a
cheeseburger now and then. One night I came across copies of Tom’s
book for sale in the Dixie store. I picked it up, noticed he had
signed it, and began to read it. I was hooked and spent some of my few
bucks on it.
I think it took me about a day to read. That was in
1997, and I had just returned from driving a relative’s car from
Southern California back to Illinois, so the book was fresh then. What impressed me then was how Tom had taken the time
from his state job, using probably most of his leave, to make the trip and
research his book. As a fan of Route 66, I e-mailed Tom a few times during
our brief stay in Illinois but never, once I found work, had the time to
attend the Illinois Route 66 Association gatherings and meet him. In 1999 I returned to the federal government, taking
a job in Seoul, South Korea. After I returned, in 2002, I tried again to meet Tom, but
no luck. The last e-mail I had from him was in July 2002, just as we moved
back East. Late in 2004 I had made vacation plans to return to
Illinois. This time, I was going to meet Tom, come hell or high water. But
after not hearing back from him I checked the Route 66 Association Web site
and was shocked to hear he had passed away. Since then I’ve managed to take two vacations
on Route 66, one week each. Both times I flew into Albuquerque, rented a
car, and hit the road. Ranging from Clinton, Okla., to Flagstaff, Ariz., I
traveled the road, at a slow pace, using Tom’s book as a sort of
guide. The book is pretty much dated now. Most of those people in the book
are gone. So are their business operations. But the road is still there.
Tom’s book inspired me, more than anything, to
get off my tail and get out there and do something. It had a profound
effect. Since I never met him, and only know him from brief e-mails and his
book, it’s easy to see that what he did inspired many others to do
what I did and follow a dream. It’s a darn shame he passed on before
he had a chance, when he retired, to devote time to Route 66, traveling and
inspiring others to follow their dreams. Although others have books out
about 66, none are as heartfelt as Tom’s. You could tell he really
loved the old road. I hope folks never forget Tom and what he did to
advance Route 66.
K.J. Dongu
Arlington,
Va.
This article appears in Nov 8-14, 2007.
