Charlie Mitchell: Reed focused on what’s best for Mississippi
Reed’s life has been a reminder that (1) there is a big picture and (2) some see it. He engaged in give and take with his mind fixated on the common good.
In 2001, before Mississippians voted in a non-binding referendum on whether a new state flag should be designed, Reed wrote a letter to the editor of his hometown paper, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. In it, he said, “To me, a fifth-generation Mississippian with four children and eight grandchildren all living in Mississippi, this is not primarily ‘Black vs. White’ or ‘Good Guys vs. Bad Guys,’ as there are some of each on both sides. I view this as the past vs. the future, and what Mississippi becomes in the 21st Century.”…
…In its editorial after Reed died, the Journal wrote, “Private citizens with exceptional gifts for engaging in public issues walk among us too rarely, but that rarity makes a life of service to the whole community as Jack Reed Sr. lived it even more remarkable.”
Yes, and amen.
ClarionLedger
2/9/16
Magnolia Tribune
