way, “Sure, we were fools, but it wasnoffered to us and we took it.” Hownmany of us would have refused?nCharles Niska could have gone tonthe State Farm but is imprisoned innisolation at the Pen because, for religiousnreasons, he refuses medicalnscreening and a tuberculosis test. Henmisses his family, wrangles about hisnprison diet, is holding out for his ownnvitamin supplements, and still hasn’tnagreed to psychiatric evaluation. Andnhe recently passed up a chance fornearly release from his term, whichnexpires in May 1988. Asking for parole,nhe said, would be admittingnguilt.nHe’s filed appeals in his county andnat the U.S. District Court and says, “Inhaven’t been to the U.S. SupremenCourt, so I’m not done yet. I’ll fightnthem to the end of my life if I have to,nand I probably will.” This guy obviouslynhas a few chickens loose—butnsomething in me wants him to win.n(Thanks to Frederic Smith of thenBismarck Tribune for his two-part featurenclarifying the facts of this problem.)nJane Greer has a clean record in Bismarck,nNorth Dakota.nLetter From thenLower Rightnby John Shelton ReednOld Times There Are Not ForgottennI’m sure some readers of these lettersnare tired of hearing what a specialnplace the South is. So I’ll warn you:nI’m going to say it again. And I’mngoing to quote all sorts of other peoplenwho say it, too. Come back nextnmonth if you can’t take it.nThe South is a very special place.nFor starters, it’s special because Southernersnlike to believe that. In a forthcomingnhistory of the North CarolinanSchool of the Arts, Richard Adler isnquoted as follows:nFor the past twenty-five yearsnI’ve been, on and off, comingninto this state, and one thingnparticularly I’ve learned: thatnI’ve never yet been in anstate . . . where there is asnmuch state pride as NorthnCarolinians feel about NorthnCarolina. And this is tonme—coming now from twoneastern states. New Jersey andnNew York, where they arenpretty blase about things likenthis—something to really feelnand be a littie bit enviousnof. … I wish we had a littienbit more of it where we comenfrom.nAnd well he might. It’s a preciousnresource.nA few years ago, when my colleaguenGlen Elder and I asked a bunch ofnSoutherners what they liked aboutntheir region, most talked about thenland. They seemed to agree with WilliamnFaulkner, who said once that thenSouth is lucky that Cod has done sonmuch for it and man so littie. A lot ofnthem sounded something like Leroyn”Satchel” Paige, who put it this wayn(in an interview with William PricenFox):n1 tell you something else andnyou can mark this down as anprediction. You give thisncountry twenty or thirty morenyears, everybody’s got any sensenis going down South. Now yountake it down there in thenCarolinas, and over tonLouisiana and then down intonFlorida. Why, it’s like angarden. That’s where a manncan live. Hell, you wantnyourself some fish, you justnwalk out your back door andnstick your pole in the river andnyou got them. That’s whennthey’re good—fresh like that.nThen say you want yourselfnsome fresh vegetables—I don’tnmean none of this frozen messnthey’re throwing at younnowadays. I said freshnvegetables. Like you wantnyourself some collards—younjust go out in the backyard andnjust reach down and get them.n’Cause they right there. Thennsay you want some turnips ornsome rutabeggers with themncollards, why you just reachndown and scratch around andnyou get them, too. And mayben§t. Paul’s Family [J^agazinenYour childrennare inundated by thenworst of Western culture.nWhy not give them thenbest of Western culture?n… four times a year.nSurely no editor has ever had a more cantankerous stablenof writers. Aesop, Chaucer, Cervantes, Stevenson, Kipling,nPyle, Andersen, the Grimms… Where did (they) find suchna crowd of sundry folk? But then, I know. It was on anpilgrimage.nJohn Senior, authornThe Restoration of Christian Culturen$10.00 per year ($13.00 U.S. currency if outside U.S.)nSt. Paul’s Family MagazinenP.O. Box 772X, Fort Scott, Kansas 66701n1-800-523-5562nnnAPRIL 1987/39n