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TODAY'S
ISSUE
Walking by faith, Gwinnett
centurian is a treasure
By Susan Shenefield
Special to GwinnettForum.com
OCT. 21, 2003 -- A century of living well describes the diminutive
Mrs. Sarah Johnson of the Mountain Park community. We celebrate
her 100th birthday October 26!
 This
long time favorite resident of Lilburn has been active in her community
for years. She was seen for many years taking her daily one mile
walk at the Mountain Park Park accompanied by her daughter, Eleanor
O’Kelley. I remember when Elliott Brack met them early one
morning for a brisk stroll. Elliott, the hiker, was keen to keep
up with them! Now Miss Sarah has altered her routine to walking
six days a week for a half mile at the track of Mountain Park Baptist
Church. However if the weather is nice, they will go to Lilburn
Park.
Taking every Disciple Bible Class Mountain Park United Methodist
Church teaches, classmates find her a delightful inspiration. As
fellow class member, Jeanette Bell recalls, while all the members
will use one version of the Bible in their research, Miss Sarah
uses three or four. She's been and continues to be the program chair
for her Thrasher’s Circle, a United Methodist women’s
group, faithfully arranging speakers.
She can be seen in her pew every Sunday at the 11 a.m. service.
Stories abound of her kindness and humbleness. As a Mountain Park
UMC youth, Jonathan Kennedy assisted Miss Sarah to her after-church
ride by carrying for her a bag of items. That same week Jonathan
received a thank you note for his help. Known for her homemade preserves
and pickles, van drivers who transport her to and from church are
frequent recipients of these treasures. I was given a jar upon visiting
at her home once a few years ago.
Miss Sarah is a native Georgian, born in McDonough. The eldest
of five children, she has survived them all. She retired as head
of the Tax Department for the City of Decatur at age 65. Widowed
in 1986, she has two daughters, a son, five grandchildren and three
great-grandchildren.
Eleanor O’Kelley tells that her Mom was excited when Atlanta
was picked for the 1996 Olympics, but never thought she’d live
that long to see them. She adds that Miss Sarah almost didn’t
buy a twoyear membership to the Eastside Senior Center as she
didn’t think she’d be around to use it. She has enjoyed
both experiences.
Claiming she doesn’t understand why anybody’s making
a fuss over her, anyone
knowing her will beg to differ. What a wonderful example she sets
for all to see by her faithfulness and zest for life. If you’ve
ever been graced by her sweet smile or a kiss on the hand from her,
you don’t forget it.
Miss Sarah will be honored by the SAMS ministry group which represents
the seniors at Mountain Park UMC. She also will be the focus of
a reception following the 11 a.m. church service on her birthday,
October 26.
Congratulations, Miss Sarah, on a life well lived and the example
you set for all of us.
ELLIOTT
BRACK
Movie
messes with John Grisham's "Runaway Jury"
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
OCT. 21, 2003 -- You’re heard this before: “The book
was better than the movie.” From people who like books, you
seldom hear “The movie was better than the book.”
 After
having just finished John Grisham’s “Runaway Jury”
in book form, we saw the movie this weekend. One thing the movie
didn’t change: the title. The only other aspect the movie scriptwriters
left was the basic plot that Grisham originally conceived.
Yet totally changed were:
- The target industry. Moviemakers must be fearful of the
tobacco lobby, for instead of aiming at Big Tobacco, the new defendant
was the gun making industry.
- The setting. Not content with a locale in Biloxi, Miss.,
the moviemakers choose New Orleans as the site of the drama. There
are a whole lot of sights and sounds to shoot in New Orleans,
compared to even Biloxi now with gambling. But we beg the question,
why change the author’s site? (Sadly, the moviemakers missed
their best New Orleans clichés: no jazz, and no tasty food
were sideline stars.) They missed their mark.
- The tone. While Grisham’s masterpiece was done with
a lot of sophistication in plot development, including lots of
cranial interplay with the reader, the movie chose to show raw
violence, which Grisham never included in his story. The stealth
and cunning of the novel was totally ignored.
- Violence. Grisham’s books are usually well restrained,
both in language and in character. The movie is nothing of the
sort, with random violence and change of tone abounding, all for
the mere sake of action in a plot that would be better served
with more held-in-check boiling over and frustration. The heavy-handedness
of the movie was unnecessary, and detracted from the main story.
- The story. Where Grisham’s book main characters
had great reserve of false character, the moviemakers chose to
inject two-timing and even more deceit than a reader of the book
would think possible. The movie played both sides of the legal
question; the book kept to one side.
- The ending. The movie could not resist kicking sand
in the protagonist’s face. The book gave a great unexpected
twist at the end, which justified the means.
It all adds up to another Hollywood bombastic effort, somewhat
“full of sound and fury, signifying……..” not
much.
The movie does a superb job of showing how a jury can be picked,
covering a lot of ground quickly. But the beauty of the written
word, full of intricacies of this tactic, comes off even better
in the book. The shredding of the book’s characters in the
movie is an insult to the effort Grisham made in painting the novel’s
players.
All we can say is that we hope Grisham got paid all his monies
for the movie right up front. Compared to the book, the movie is
an insult to the author’s character.
We said it earlier: the book was better. Far better. Enjoy the
book. Forget the movie.
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FEEDBACK
10/21: Gwinnett
Tech should have been under state control
Editor, the Forum:
Gwinnett Tech President Sharon Rigsby cites four factors she
contends have contributed to record-breaking enrollments at
Gwinnett Tech. They are:
-
A great product in technical education,
-
The quality of Gwinnett Tech faculty,
-
Quick response to work place needs, and
-
New programs and increased classroom space.
If Rigsby is even remotely trying to credit local ownership
and/or her stewardship as the driving force behind these four
factors, she needs to prove:
1) Why and how she -- rather than the technology revolution,
a recessionary economy and their impact on the composition of
the Metropolitan Area's workforce -- made technical education
into a "great product."
2) Did the enrollment increases at Gwinnett Tech outpace that
at all other Georgia
technical schools managed by the state Department of Technical
& Adult Education (DT&AE). And, if so, was Gwinnett
Tech's faculty the prime causal factor for the increased enrollments,
and why and how she was able to assemble a faculty superior
to any that the DT&AE assembled?
3) Why DT&AE ownership/operation of Gwinnett Tech, with
a local advisory board, could not equally as quickly have responded
to statewide workforce needs?
4) Why and how adding new programs and more classrooms at Gwinnett
Tech benefits the vast majority of resident K-12 students moreso
than economic development, statewide businesses and industries
and out-of-county students (who constitute one-third of Gwinnett
Tech's quarterly enrollments)?
Gwinnett Tech should have been transferred to the DT&AE
years ago and the multi-millions of local school taxes so saved
applied to legitimate K-12 education needs. Gwinnett County
K-12 school taxes and SPLOST proceeds should only be used to
finance K-12 education; state/local/private funds from Departments
of Industry & Tourism, CIDs, etc., should finance economic
pursuits.
-- Donald F. Valtman, Lilburn
(Editor’s Note: Gwinnett
County funded Gwinnett Tech since its inception in 1984, until
July 1, 2003, when oversight was transferred to the Department
of Technical and Adult Education, with a three year phase in.
eeb)
CALENDAR
Show depicting
George Keener's art set for November
An art show displaying the works of the late George Keener
is set for the Norcross Art Galley, at 116 Carlise Street, on
Thursday, November 6, from 5-7 p.m.
To view some of his collection, visit this web address: www.dkeener.com/george.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Absolutely no limits
to characteristics of some people
“Grandpa used to say ‘There is a limit to how smart
somebody can be, but no limit to how dumb they can be.'”
-- Steve Rausch.
What's your favorite saying? Share with others through
GwinnettForum. Send to elliott@gwinnettforum.com.
SEND
YOUR FEEDBACK
Send your thoughts, 55-word short stories, pet peeves
or comments on any issue to Gwinnett
Forum for future publication.
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is an online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible
social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett
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