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Letters to the editor: 08/03/00

Reader enjoys on-line edition

To the Editor:

It is truly an amazing world.

Here we are playing around on our computer way out here in Sierra Vista, Ariz., and we don't even have to wait for our subscription copy of the Sylva Herald to arrive each week. Not that we would give up our hard copy... the pictures are worth a thousand words!

We just wanted you to know we have enjoyed jumping on our computer and keeping up with all our old and dear friends in Jackson County.

A big "Hello" to the Herald staff and to let them know they are doing a great job with the "hometown news."

Regards,

Hilda Hoffman
Sierra Vista, Ariz.

Low-grade coal is to blame for air pollution

To the Editor:

The letter to the editor last week (July 27) is a must read. After you read it, call and write your elected representatives at the state and federal levels. As a rule the American people are passive, as in too busy to bother with it.

That time is past.

The time has past when one could travel to the high tops of the mountains and see "half way into forever," as the late, great writer John Parris used to say.

Shortly after the Wolf Creek Coal Mines were unionized, Carolina Power and Light cancelled their contract of 2 million tons of coal per year. This was a 20-year contract. Wolf Creek Mining Co. took CP&L to federal court. The case was heard in Raleigh. The federal judge suggested the parties settle the case themselves. This was exactly what Wolf Creek wanted to hear.

On Oct. 3, 1995, Wolf Creek Mining Co. was shut and remains so today. This action put 340 coal miners out of work, most of whom were illiterate. This action effectively broke the back of Martin County, Ky., which depended heavily on the taxes from Wolf Creek Coal.

Wolf Creek coal is some of the brightest-grade, low-sulphur coal known to man. The specificiations are close to less than 1 pound of sulphur per ton. There is at least an 18-year supply of coal left at Wolf Creek, and it's not being mined.

CP&L went to a lower grade coal with a higher sulphur content, same as is used by TVA. To put a finger on it, right there is the source of 60 percent or more of the air pollution forced upon us here in Western North Carolina by TVA.

It's all about money.

Allen Fisher
Sylva

Summer Evenings, Allman's performance receives praise

To the Editor:

The trouble with praising something local that is really good is, first thing you know, it soon becomes so crowded it belongs to others and isn't yours anymore. Praise due, however, must be paid, or injustices are born.

A Summer Evening in Webster, sponsored by the Webster Historical Society, has just completed another season of some of the finest entertainment and educational programs one could ever find, even in metropolitan areas.

Joe Rhinehart certainly deserves applause for his fine work in putting these programs together every summer, as well as the many others who do jobs unnoticed - cleaning up after, printing programs, making countless arrangements - and especially the wonderful ladies who make such fine food. (The outstanding sweet potato pie served at the Marian Anderson concert is something not easily forgotten.)

Every program this summer has been the makings of cherished memories, and the final evening this past Sunday, "Looking Homeward," a tribute to Thomas Wolfe, was certainly like the grand finale of a Fourth of July fireworks display.

Gary Carden, in that wonderful voice of his, read his own impeccable words from a story filled with humor and nostalgia mixed as only he can do it. One is tempted to think of Dave Barry, except that Carden, while being more humorous, has far more substance.

Terry Welch, who hasn't been seen since her great performance in Kudzu Players' "Nunsense," ended the show with lilting and beautiful songs mentioned in Wolfe's "Look Homeward, Angel." Dana Kelly and Steve Eller turned in great supporting roles in Wolfe's play, "The Return of Buck Gavin."

OK! That brings us to Howard Allman! What can you say? Perfection is so overwhelming, the proper words are sometimes difficult to find. There is not praise enough to compliment this man's acting ability. Who does this guy think he is to sit down there selling insurance all day and then walk on stage and within three minutes blow us out of our socks?

Allman, a native son back home from years in California, is truly another one of the fine gems found in this valley. Jackson County is blessed to be so filled with outstanding artistic talent.

Allman is so intense and powerful, the audience forgets there is no scenery, no lighting, no curtains. One is not watching a play, but a man so filled with human emotion and passion that the viewer becomes that person. Allman takes Wolfe's words and turns them into instruments of pain and torture. His eyes can frighten you, amuse you, cause you to get a lump in your throat. His voice can call up demons in you or soothe you to sleep like your father reading to you at bedtime.

Someone with this much talent should be fined if not in a performance every three months. If you ever have the chance to see this man act, you should go to any length to witness his talent.

A few weeks ago this writer praised Heather Coates-Guyse. If Howard Allman and Heather Coates-Guyse ever get on the same stage at the same time, there may not be enough chains in existence to contain the emotion they could generate.

During one rehearsal of Buck Gavin, Allman pulled a knife from his pocket, deeply cut his hand and had to have stitches in two fingers. After watching this man act for only a few minutes, it's easy to see that he gives so much of himself to his craft that he is not a stranger to pain. Whatever emotion Allman wants you to feel is not just going to touch you; it is going to haunt you. He is clearly one of the most talented performers in many counties - states. Never let a performance of Howard Allman's go without your attention.

Mack Mangham
Balsam

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