Page 2 - Tom Dillard News Today

History begins at our own back door, writes Curtis Varnell, Ph.D.

"Me, I just stroll the streets of Little Rock, pausing now and then to study the iron grillwork over an old cemetery, to commune with the graves, to gaze at the scrollwork adorning the top of an old building visible from my office window." --Paul Greenberg, Oct. 22, 1995.

They failed Arkansas

Recycling in interim

Editors Note: To our great sorrow, this is Tom Dillards last weekly column. We wish him all the best in this attempt at retirement.

It was a warm summer day in 2002 when Arkansas Democrat-Gazette executive editor Griffin Smith invited me to lunch at Whole Hog on Cantrell Road in Little Rock. Others at the luncheon, their sleeves rolled up while doing battle with pulled pork sandwiches dripping with BBQ sauce, were editorial director Paul Greenberg and Ed Gray, editor of the book pages. Griffins vision for a new column on Arkansas history was to add life to that neglected part of the paper.

For readers who do not share my enthusiasm for cemeteries, please forgive this second-in-a-row foray into some of the burial grounds of Arkansas.

For readers who do not share my enthusiasm for cemeteries, please forgive this second-in-a-row foray into some of the burial grounds of Arkansas.

Cemeteries are great places to walk and contemplate. Each has a history.

Cemeteries are great places to walk and contemplate. Each has a history.