The Mountain Eagle
WHITESBURG WEATHER

It would be a dull world without diverse people





To the Editor:

I heard about Mr. O’Reilly’s derogatory remarks about Appalachia. I never watch programs like his or Rush Limbaugh, or any of the self-righteous know-it-alls who have ruined television.

O’Reilly is rude and never lets anyone he interviews get a word in edgewise.

The first I ever heard of Rush Limbaugh was when Jerry Garcia (of the Grateful Dead) died of an overdose. Limbaugh said he was just another ‘dead doper.’ When Rush overdosed, I was hoping to return the compliment.

Garcia was a druggie, but one of the most talented musicians and composers of the century. Most people will remember him for that. What will people like Limbaugh, O’Reilly and other similar shallowminded people be remembered for? I can’t think of anything.

True, kids will have more opportunity if they move away from here, but to where? New York?? Where crime, overcrowding, filth, hunger and homelessness is out of control?

How about Los Angeles where pollution is 10 times what it is here? Dozens of street gangs rule the city, and meth rots out kids’ teeth rather than Mountain Dew.

I have never seen anyone begging on our streets. I guess it’s because most people around here are good enough to feed them, or help them find a place to stay. Go to any major city and you will see ‘street people’ everywhere.

No, I don’t like this area, but the vast majority of people couldn’t live like I do. I live to sleep on the desert, snow-capped mountains, and at water’s edge halfway down remote white-water canyons.

If it weren’t for football, basketball, NASCAR and such, I might find thousands of lunatics paddling down my river. Where would I go then?

I know they find me stranger than I find them, but “to each his own.” I feel like a fish up a tree in crowds. Unlike O’Reilly and Limbaugh, I don’t try to tell anyone who they should be or what they should do.

If we all liked the same things it would be a dull world without diverse people. If I started telling people to be like me and live like me, I would have a much bigger audience than any of the self-proclaimed gurus.
JERRY COLLINS
Millstone



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