Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Storybook endings
Places, characters change with every new chapter
Once upon a time … I could say “in my day,” but “once upon a time” sounds a little better, a little more mythical. And after all, most remembrances are a bit on the mythical side, time having dulled the sharp edges of fact and the past becoming a picture of a picture of a picture until the details blur and only the impressions last.
Also, “once upon a time” conveys the likely accurate impression that some of what follows may actually be true, but percentages may vary.
It also lets you know this is a bit nostalgic, and like most nostalgia, somewhat indulgent. So, you’ll have to indulge me.
Once upon a time, I lived near Little Rock, the point from which all the economic and (a cynical note here) therefore all the political power in the state flowed. And the state was so solidly Democratic (as in the party, not necessarily the process) that we never imagined that would ever change.
The fact that we got that wrong can hardly be blamed on my friends and me. We were just kids: far smarter folks than us didn’t see that coming. And before we refer to those as the “good old days” of state politics, it’s important to remember our roads were (and still are) terrible, we were (and still are) 49th in almost everything and instead of fixing any of it we spent (and still spend) our time thanking the Almighty for Mississippi for keeping Arkansas from being last.
Once upon a time, the state was led by men like Dale Bumpers and David Pryor and some young University of Arkansas law professor name Clinton who managed to become the youngest person in state history to get elected governor, then the youngest person ever to lose the office when he made voters mad, then the youngest reelected when he got them to forgive him.
But that was beyond us since we were just kids. And we parked on the golf course at War Memorial Stadium and watched Frank Broyles and the Razorbacks beat No. 1-ranked Southern Cal or Scott Bull throw a touchdown pass to Dickie Morton to upset Texas A&M, at the time a rival in the Southwest Conference.
And once upon a time we got to watch the Triplets — Sidney Moncrief, Ron Brewer and Marvin Delph — start the rise of Arkansas basketball in musty Barton Coliseum at the State Fairgrounds. A note: It’s OK to play basketball in the same place they hold a livestock show. You just want the livestock show done first.
Once upon a time we went to horse races in Hot Springs and hunted ducks in Stuttgart and got dragged around Greer’s Ferry Lake, apparently learning to water ski. And if we couldn’t find what we needed at Magic Mart, we might try that little discount store called Wal-Mart.
Once upon a time we promised each other that while we might go out of state to college we’d come back and marry each other and buy a house in the Heights in Little Rock and build lives there, going to Razorback games and horse races and hunting ducks with our kids. Forever.
Of course, we didn’t. I made it back as far as Fort Smith where I met the person I was meant to marry and we built a life in Northwest Arkansas, the new economic center of the state, if not the political one.
They occasionally play basketball in a shiny new arena in North Little Rock and argue about playing football in what is now a decidedly decrepit War Memorial Stadium. The golf course doesn’t even exist anymore.
Things change. That’s a cliché that has the benefit of also being true. And the past always looks grander, our leaders wiser and (mostly) more virtuous.
For me, each day it seems the links and landmarks to that past fade away. Before very long they’ll all be “once upon a time.” Some day, hopefully some time from now, so will I.
Dale Bumpers passed away a few years ago. David Pryor died last week at 89 after a lifetime of public service. That Clinton guy apparently got pretty good at getting people to like him, making them mad and then getting them to like him again. But he doesn’t live in Little Rock anymore, either.
They were all part of a golden period for the state, the country and for me. And now, increasingly, that period is drawing to a close.
And becoming “once upon a time.”