Remembering a Long Ago Visit to the State Capitol

   In early December of 1994 my wife and I drove to the State Capitol to meet Fred Dillingham who was then serving as the area’s State Senator. I had called him earlier and pitched my idea of doing a story detailing one of his last days as a Michigan legislator. This article would include a retrospect of his career. He had decided not to run again and a new senator, Mike Rogers, would be taking his place in January.

     A Fowlerville native, he had started out on the Livingston County Board of Commissioners, winning a four-year term in the 1974 election. He was subsequently elected as a state representative in 1978, serving in that position for eight years. Then in 1986 he ran for the State Senate seat and won.

A Dream Delayed

    Among my many personal keepsakes, accumulated from years gone by, is a letter from The State Journal. The top of the document features a drawing of the building in Downtown Lansing where this daily newspaper is headquartered and the salutation reads: Dear Mr. Stephen Horton. It’s dated September 14 was signed by the then managing editor, Ben Burns. Mr. Burns was in the early stages of a distinguished journalistic career that would include a long tenure at The Detroit News.

   This letter was part of a packet that he had mailed to me. In it were the articles I had sent him, offering an example of my writing. I had heard through a pressman who worked at the daily paper, a gentleman who had recently met my mother, that a reporter position was open.

William Milliken: A Light That Still Shines

     Among the news stories of this past week was one about former Gov. William Milliken, a moderate Republican from Traverse City, endorsing Hillary Clinton for president rather than the GOP nominee Donald Trump. In a written statement, Milliken said:

  

    “This nation has long prided itself on its abiding commitments to tolerance, civility and equality. We face a critically important choice in this year's presidential election that will define whether we maintain our commitment to those ideals or embark on a path that has doomed other governments and nations throughout history. I am saddened and dismayed that the Republican Party this year has nominated a candidate who has repeatedly demonstrated that he does not embrace those ideals.

Our Public Discourse Has Become More Sophistry & Less Socratic

   Back in the pre-internet age, anyone who wished to learn more about a given topic generally utilized reference books. These fact-filled texts came in various forms—almanacs being a favorite with readers—but by far the most popular option when I was a young lad was the encyclopedia—or, more accurately, a set of volumes with topics ranging from A-to-Z.

    My grandmother (who taught fourth grade) purchased a set of the World Book Encyclopedia sometime in the early 1960s with the invitation that we, her grandchildren, could borrow a volume as often as any of us needed. I took her up on that offer quite frequently.

Lively Interest in Local Races a Good Sign

  If you had the time and ambition to wade through last week’s edition of our newspaper, you’d have come across the statements by the various candidates running for contested seats on the area and local boards and offices. There were a total of 17, including the county prosecutor, the open seat for District 4 of the Livingston County Board of Commissioners, the supervisor’s post in Conway Township, and the trustee positions for the townships of Conway, Handy, and Iosco.