In the late 1960’s I went to my editor at The Charlotte News, Perry Morgan, and asked him to keep his promise.
Perry had promised me that if I worked hard, after two or three years he would help me move up, get a job at a bigger paper anywhere in the country. I told him I wanted to go to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Because it was another Knight newspaper I knew he could make that happen.
Problem was, I was a pretty good reporter and he didn’t want me going anywhere. This, in essence, is the exchange we had:
“Nobody here treating you bad, are they?
“No sir.”
“Getting raises. Getting moved from beat to beat, getting good assignments.”
“Yes sir.”
“You married a Charlotte girl, didn’t you?”
“Yes sir.”
“Her family is here. Your family, your Mom and Dad, they live here?”
“Yes sir.”
“Got three kids. Just bought a house here, didn’t you?”
“Yes sir.”
“But you want to go to work for a big city newspaper, don’t you. You want to show them you’re just as good as they are, better even. Isn’t that true. Isn’t that the reason you want to go to Philadelphia, to prove something.”
“Yes sir, that’s true.”
“Well, boy, if you had as much confidence in yourself as I have in you, you wouldn’t have to sell your house and uproot your wife and kids and move away from your kinfolk to some big city up North where you don’t know anybody. You wouldn’t have to prove anything.”
Postscript: I didn’t apply for a job in Philadelphia or anywhere else, I stayed in Charlotte another two years. I used to think about Perry quite often and wish that I could have encountered him when I was a lot older and little smarter.
NOTE:
One of our own, Jim Waddelow, who is married to Chelsea Stith, was on national television last Sunday.
How about that!
Pam Stith was watching CBS Sunday, which she had recorded while she was at church, when she saw a familiar face and heard a familiar voice.
Pam was watching a tribute to a Ponca City, Oklahoma, music teacher, a real life version of the movie, Mr. Holland’s Opus. Nearly 300 of the students Robert Moore taught in a 30-year career, from all over the United States and three foreign countries, had gathered to honor him — and sing to him.
Jim, an associate professor of music at Meredith College in Raleigh, is conductor and music director of the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra, a job he would not have, he told CBS, were it not for his high school music teacher.
If you take a look I think you’ll watch the whole 3 minute, 58 second segment. Jim shows up at the two minute, 10 second mark.
BTW, Jim told me that Moore’s choral group was named best in the state for 25 of his 30 years. The other five years? They finished second.
Coming Monday: Sick, Lame or Lazy
I knew Perry Morgan. Grew up in Wake Forest and of course we took the “Nuisance & Disturber.” Daddy taught Latin and Greek on campus. Going to Raleigh was always a major adventure for my sister and me. Parents would stick us in the back seat with a loaf of unsliced white bread and we would spend the 17 miles digging out the soft center and stuffing ourselves. Lunch on the way back was a box of vanilla ice cream cut into 4 equal rectangles; how we did love those adventures . . .
My dads brother was Elmore Earp, who was N.C. Highway Commissioner under Governor Kerr Scott back in the late 40’s and early 50’s. Uncle Elmore was constantly “courted” by folks who wanted a highway running by their property. Uncle Elmore was also a major hog farmer and may have been somewhat contentious at the time but I was a child and unaware of all that was going on . . .
By the way, your bro Dave and I jointly taught a Sunday School class this morning. What fun that was! I’ve known him for about 50 years and Kathy was a best friend.
Gov. Kerr Scott was before my time but his son, Bob, was governor [1969-73] when we moved to Raleigh and I’m going to tell a story or two about him one of these days.