A Letter From The Editor
Horton Hears a Narcissist
I
4
Photo by Megan Parks
n a world that’s mostly rude, how
does one effectively handle the
mass of discourteous people? It’s a
problem that everyone whose “mama
raised ‘em right,” deals with almost
daily.
Living in Parker County, I feel
pretty insulated from the lion’s share
of the bad behavior of the rude,
angry throngs that are indicative
of the rest of the world. Let’s face
it, most people who live in Parker
County are here because they want
to live and raise their children in a
kinder, gentler community.
Do you find yourself wanting to
summon your mother to deal with the
Rudies, so she could deal with them
the way she dealt with you whenever
you were a smart-mouthed preteen
and you “copped an attitude,” used
“Barn-Talk,” or “smarted off?” I do —
often.
I find myself envisioning my tiny
mother (she was 4 feet, 11 inches
tall) attacking the Rudies and washing
out their mouths with soap.
At the moment, the Rudie I’d
most like to see my mom deal with
is Cambridgeport, Massachusetts,
Librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro. Until a
couple of months ago, most of us
were blissfully oblivious to the exis-
tence of Ms. Soeiro. That all changed
in early September when First Lady
Melania Trump donated a collec-
tion of Dr. Seuss books to public
school libraries across the nation in
celebration of National Read a Book
Day. One public school in each state
was chosen to receive the gift of 10
books, including “The Cat in the
Hat,” “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish,
Blue Fish,” “Oh, the Places You’ll
Go!” and “Green Eggs and Ham.”
Most of the librarians working for
schools selected to receive the books
were gracious and appreciative. I’m
guessing that most of them wrote
some sort of thank-you note.
The books Ms. Trump donated
were classic, funny, inspiring, and
best of all, free of charge. What
elementary school librarian wouldn’t
want that collection? Apparently, Ms.
Soeiro. She not only sent the books
back, she chose to use the opportuni-
ty to send a rud