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“He has no prior record, to my knowledge,” the officer said. A vendor said that when he checked his machine after the crime, cigarettes were missing, but no money had been swiped. A Makoto’s assistant manager testified that the defendant, a former morning janitor, had been relieved of his duties over a week before the theft because he had missed a day of work. “I thought it was my day off,” Reilly testified later. He and other Way members were sworn in together with their hands placed squarely on bibles. Reilly said he had been bowling and watching/ Dr. Joe Glass, Lenoir-Rhyne professor of religion, said member of The Way once approached student in Hickory at the Lutheran college. He opposed their outreach program. “A few years ago they came through here. I didn’t encourage it.” Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent Johnny Turner told me that his department had assisted former Boone Police Chief Clyde Tester and his staff in the Reilly investigation. Nelms lighted Cigarette Number 5. He said that when he would drive to Boone to see his daughter, Way members were always with her and would watch them until the end of the visits. I did a story for the Hickory Daily Record on Feb. 9, 1987 that reported the son of a Valdese couple, who are themselves members of Waldensian Presbyterian Church in Valdese, now lived in New Knoxville, living with Wierwille’s daughter and their twin sons. The story reported that Kevin Guigou, 29, graduated in 1981 from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with degrees in architecture, and he then worked for The Way architectural and engineering office. He also was project coordinator for The Family Commons Building at The Way’s camp in Gunnison, Col. “He got started in Valdese,” his father told me over the telephone, adding that The Way was a good organization. “It’s real influential. It’s the kind of thing you can belong to and leave. “It’s because they don’t know much about it,” his dad told me of the critics. It’s just lack of proper knowledge. We’re not involved. We’re sticking with our church here.” A N.C. State Bureau of Investigation agent told me that there was no on-going investigation of The Way, but he referred to information in an article in The Raleigh News & Observer published April 6, 1981. The story told about an ex-Way member and N.C. State University Wolfpack student David Richard’s disillusionment with one of the 10 fellowships in the Raleigh area in the fall of 1973 and his charges of mind control, fraternity-joke hazing, sleep deprivation and malnourishment. A map of the root family compound illustrates the “Jordan River” creek, basketball courts, the Wierwille family barn circa 1891, Reuben Avenue, Sevilla Avenue, Allen Circle, Lydia Avenue, Randall Drive, Owens Drive, and a tertiary pond. Camp Gunnison is advertised as having hunting, fishing, horseback riding, jeep trips, snowmobiling, backpacking, downhill and cross-country skiing, tobogganing and ice skating with chuckwagon cookouts, campfire sing-alongs and twig fellowships. In Sidney, Ohio there was The Fine Arts and Historical Center built in the 1890s as a 14-room mansion in 18- inch Indiana limestone on a bluff and “dramatized by a variety of hardwoods used throughout, including heavily carved bird’s eye maple, red mahogany, cherry, golden oak and curly birch. It’s listed in the National Register of Historic Places, housing Wierwille’s research works and “historical” Way documents. The group even had a recording studio in New Bremen, Ohio with Way Productions and Take A Stand Caravan, a group of singers and musicians. There were festivals in Europe and South America. Another Way member in Boone testified in the Reilly trial. “Jesus Christ is the Son of God,” she said under oath, adding that she stays in the group of her own free will. Her mother, Mary Reece, told me later that after reading some Way documents her daughter brought home one weekend, she doesn’t believe Way doctrines are too kosher and definitely unlike the preachings of the family’s worship at Pine Log Baptist Church. “Great name,” Susannah had written in the margin. She and her husband, Max, would like their daughter out of The Way too, she said. “Nice double entendre,” Susannah wrote. Her daughter testified that she met Way member Mark Edward in August, and she went to a meeting because she was interested in what the group had to say. “They were really excited about being alive, and I wanted to be the same way,” she said. “They smile a lot....” Reilly explained how he met other Way members. “We went to this thing called The Rock of Ages; it’s this thing like a Christian gathering,” he said. He and his new friends then moved to Hickory and on to Boone 45 clicks away. He said he signed an application to become a Word Over the World (WOW) ambassador. All local twig money now goes to Way Treasurer Howard Allen, according to Reilly. The last page of my Rolling Stone manuscript may not be the final one, since I left it at a reporter’s apartment in Gastonia as he packed for Florida. “Nightmares of nuclear war, dreams about my old girlfriend and anxiety attacks have lightened up some since I’ve come to the end of this research. Well, Ms. Nelms has just recently spent a weekend at home with her family. Her father drove her back to Boone as he promised he would. “She is still with The Way. Reilly’s case is pending, and because of that, Boone Police Chief Clyde Tester said he couldn’t comment on the case since it might jeopardize his department’s case. “It was a thorough investigation. A lot of time was spent on it,” he said. The money was never returned or recovered. I’ve recovered from my zany beach trips, my bicentennial insanity July 4, 1976, watching the fireworks explode from the television room of the inpatient ward at Pinehurst Hospital, but I can’t help feeling that I am a victim - the victim of a naive passion of love that claims no expectations of reciprocation. I love my family. I love my friends. I love members of The Way International. And I love you too. New River Light & Power Company, Winkler’s Creek Road, P.O. Box 1130, Boone, North Carolina 28607. Date: 2-4-85. Ten years ago, minus four months and 15 days. Customer Name: Tim Bullard Customer Account: 50257137-01 Dear Customer: Our attempts to contact you by phone and this visit have not been successful. (There is little wonder, lamebrain numbskull. I haven’t paid my telephone company bill either, so they were indiscreet enough to actually turn around and shut my durned service off until I pay them.) We realize that sometimes your schedule does not coincide with our office hours. (Straight. I’m out all night drinking, snorting cocaine and using other people’s telephone while this early March wind is freezing the whiskers off my beard. During the day I’m looking for a job, asshole! I just got fired.) This is the reason for this notification. (I didn’t think it was a late birthday card.) Your electrical service is due to be terminated on 3-6-85. (Got the bill today, let’s see, that gives me all of 24 hours to come up with the amount.) Due to nonpayment of your account, your current outstanding balance is $178.17. (I’ve got the seventeen cents. It was so cold one day I heard a calf froze before it hit the ground after birth.) There was an additional $7.50 reconnect fee, but I was late paying it too. It wouldn’t be long before the landlord would sick the moving hounds on me. A deputy I talked to later laughed when I told them all my possessions were out on the street. “That’s against the law.” ******************** The Hon. Gov. David Beasley Governor’s Office Columbia, S.C. Dear Gov. Beasley: Trucker’s Motel continues to operate as a bordello in Marlboro County despite the busts by the S.C. Law Enforcement Division. The same people are running this operation, and it is my understanding that the Marlboro County Sheriff’s Department did not cooperate with SLED in the last bust which netted the arrest of the ex-mayor of McColl. I would like to request that SLED bust this place again. The people who operate this place have no respect for the laws of South Carolina, and they were open the day after SLED busted them. I sincerely appreciate your concern the last time I wrote to you regarding this matter. Please request that SLED do something about Trucker’s Motel, a.k.a. “Buddy’s Truck Stop.” With AIDS showing no signs of retreating in Marlboro County, this operation is spreading HIV across the countryside. Thank you for what you are doing as governor in attracting business to the state and for being an advocate of strong law enforcement. Sincerely, Tim Bullard It was an unforgettable appearance. Participants were still buzzing that Saturday about the controversial stance Friday night by Gov. David Beasley who told black leaders that the Confederate flag should continue to wave above the Statehouse in Columbia if the populus wants it. Startling angst and an overwhelming sense of amazement rippled across the room during “A Dialogue With Governor David Beasley,” as the audience, a mixture of black and white, gasped audibly, murmuring as Beasley reaffirmed his support for the flag. In the audience Sister Agnes Assisi Shipley OSF of St. Mary Church in Greenville, formerly of Myrtle Beach and in her 80s, waited for the governor, remembering how race relations were when she was growing up. “I think it’s the first good move to at least get us talking,” she said of the conference. Education in the classroom is where it should all start, according to Shipley. “Even then, it’s a hard job later on,” she said. “People have ingrained attitudes.” Recent results of a Palmetto Project race survey, financed through a grant of the Pilgrim Fund of the Community Foundation Serving Coastal South Carolina, went out the window as black citizens attacked a coatless Beasley who stuttered, occasionally stumbling with his answers. The dialogue got off to a positive start at first. “It’s a great pleasure to be here,” said Beasley. He was accompanied by three special agents of the S.C State Law Enforcement Division. “I don’t know any greater people on the face of the earth as right here. It’s a state of diversification, different races and different cultures. I think that’s where we’re going to start first, it’s in our hearts. “I think race relations in South Carolina have deteriorated in the last 20 or 30 years. Race relations in America have had weak moments and strong moments. I do think that tensions are rising, which is a concern. I think the average person in South Carolina desires racial harmony. I think that today people get along well, black or white. Let’s not play the race card. “We all may have different political perspectives. We may have different views about different issues. This year we sought changes in the tax structure. Three or four hundred dollars a year sometimes if the difference as to whether some people will make it or not. “This year we have seen in South Carolina our AFDC (Aid to Families With Dependent Children) load drop drastically. We want economic development to be available for all South Carolinians. We have seen this year a substantial increase in capital investment. The quality of life is a critical issue. What we are doing is bring in jobs to all of South Carolina.” The S.C. Department of Commerce also created a department especially for community development, he said. “It should be an open forum,” said Beasley. “We should be open in our dialogue. A race relations committee is timely. I feel confident in the appointees that we have made. We have diverse backgrounds.” One black audience member, a man, asked the governor, “How many black men mentally ill will be executed, and you’re going to sit there and do nothing about it?” “We will support the law and juries of this state,” Beasley said. “I will, as governor, carry out the law as mandated by the people of this state.” “I personally feel that if you take it for granted, that you are sitting on a time bomb,” the questioner said. “We don’t have a serious dialogue.” The temperature in the room was rising. The tension was palpable. It was humid. Faces were sweating. When asked about the number of blacks appointed to his staff and state positions, Beasley cited Flora Boyd, director of the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice, and Jeanine Greene, who recently replaced his only black cabinet member, Wilma Neal, the new legislative liaison. “Don’t you think that this should start in your office and put a little blackness into it,” one black audience member from Orangeburg asked. Beasley said he is looking for qualified job candidates, adding, “Please get those names to me.” When a Spartanburg questioner asked Beasley about the Confederate flag, Beasley reaffirmed his support for leaving the flag flying above the Statehouse. “I think everybody knows my position on this issue. I support leaving the flag up. I can’t tell you I know the answer to that problem.” Beasley said that if there was a vote, the flag would remain. “There are people who feel just as strong about leaving that flag up as keeping it down. I feel we need to be very honest about this issue. This issue has been debated for year after year after year after year.” “This is serious business,” commented one disturbed black questioner. “That flag came into existence for a particular reason - to keep people of color in bondage.” Luther Seabrook, his voice trembling, said, “Sir, you are my governor, and this is my state. I would think of yourself as a black South Carolinian. I want you to think about the lynchings, the murders and the rapes.” The hot, spotlighted room was so quiet, the only noise was from whirring cameras. Former Solicitor Dick Harpootlian of Columbia, who ran unsuccessfully for Attorney General, said, “I think it’s a great effort. I don’t think the governor got it off to a good start. What I hope is that we put away the political garbage. What does he believe about the flag? Leadership is about doing what is right. ‘Whatever the mob wants, I’m for.’ “He came here because he had to be here. He probably wishes he was in Iowa with Sen. Dole. The flag is such a silly issue, but it’s so sensitive to Afro-Americans.” The first man Beasley shook hands with upon entering the room commented on the responsibility of making decisions in such matters. Bishop Thompson of the Catholic Diocese of Charleston talked about the decisions later. “He’s the man who has been elected to make them. You can’t have it both ways. I have been disappointed in the governor’s position about the flag and capital punishment.” The execution of a mentally impaired black inmate sparked controversy after Beasley refused to stay the execution. “He had ample reason there not to exercise it,” said Thompson. “He is the law there. He can stay the execution day.” One of the next death row inmates scheduled to be executed is a Catholic, James Whipple of Horry County, who is awaiting the death penalty for murder. I’ve applied to be a media witness and to watch him die. It will be like the best horror movie I’ve ever seen. Maybe I’ll slip in a camera or a recording device. The selection of a media witness is political, but it’s supposed to be a blind draw. “From the womb to the tomb,” Bishop Thompson said. “If I’m going to fight against abortion, I’m going to fight against capital punishment. I’m trying to contribute to it.” ***************** To the defense of editor-reporter Andy Owens at the Marion Star & Mullins Enterprise in Marion County! He had been working at the Florence library when I was at the Florence newspaper. “Charles Julian Snipes, missing, 49, white male, 5’9”, 185 lbs., brown/gray hair straight, hazel eyes, light complexion, normal teeth, freckles, missing since 10-30-96 from Mullins, last seen wearing pullover knit shirt with stripes, khaki pants, brown casual shoes, silver watch, gold wedding band, last seen at Thomas Supply in Marion in 1991 Ford Ranger, white with red pin stripes, S.C. tag TFE277.” Thus reported a SLED Missing Persons Bulletin posted at the Horry County Courthouse. Andy bleeds effusively, eviscerated by his own newspaper’s editorial page letters for a story on Snipes, whose wife is an innocent guidance counselor stung by undeserved public exposure. Andy wrote that some might have heard from Snipes since his disappearance, which may be related to gambling. Catawba consultant Bobby Price said the word “casino” is a “bad word” to them. Webster’s: “casino: a public room or house for gambling.” Hang in there Andy! Company newspapers eat their own. “How many Sun News reporters does it take to cover a news conference?” “Three. One to ask the questions; one to click a camera; and one to look stupid.” It’s rude to hog press conference interviews. All hail TV crews and their tardy arrivals to press conferences! When the two Sun News reporters exited the County Delegation’s meeting Thursday, politicians proceeded to trash the publication and Jerry Ausband’s request to meet with the editorial board after Sen. Dick Elliott fueled objections. People bash the Sun News everywhere, kissing its derriere privately and in public. What does the “X” stand for in the managing editor’s middle name anyhow? If you saw the hazardous chemicals list the fire department has on materials at the Sun News, you’d never go barefoot on the oceanfront again. The Grand Strand journalist with the most manners in town, however, is the handsome Richard Green (a TV broadcaster/anchor), never intrusive and intolerably polite. The things adult females say about his good looks would make Larry Flynt blush. What a guy! Rule #1 in journalism: Never turn your back on readers. They’ll never let you down. Lie low. Don’t talk down to them. A writer is unimportant in the long run. Swallow complaints like candy razors and improve. Try hard not to become part of a story. As Peter Horry’s cadaver rested in the graveyard outside, “Night Rider” Lee Bandy of Knight-Ridder’s The State asked preachers at Columbia’s Trinity Episcopal Church about their decision to support Beasley on the flag, prefacing a question by stating that there “must be” dissent in congregations. Sacred: Quotes in journalism. Colloquial editing to dress up ruralspeak is a no-no. If you ask a woman her age, duck! Never beg like a mongrel for press credentials if asking doesn’t work. A “perk” in Mullins was free chicken bog at the Rotary Club where former Mullins Hospital Administrator Margie Webster always let loose with a congenital “damn” or “hell” for visiting speakers. I saw some bumper stickers at The Columns reenactment, “I am the CSA, and I vote,” “Secession-The Right Thing to Do,” “Don’t Blame Me - We Voted For Jeff Davis,” “Unreconstructed” and others that were pretty durned bad. “Semper Tyrannis” was the line under a caricature of Abe with a disturbed expression on his face. “If At First You Don’t Secede....” They ought to give traffic tickets for these instead of the decals of the little boy urinating. Mullins is a trip. On the bulletin board of Richard’s Restaurant next door in Marion is a piece of paper tacked on the bulletin board, “Clinton’s Cabinet.” “Transportation, Ted Kennedy. Housing, Leona Helmsley. Labor, Anita Hill. Defense, Rodney King. Health, Magic Johnson. I was developing film in the dark when I heard about Magic on the radio. That was weird. CIA, Ross Perot. FBI, Hilary Clinton. NASA, Jerry Brown. Veteran’s Administration, Jane Fonda. Surgeon General, Dr. Jack Kevorkian. Drug czar, Marion Barry. Family Advisor, Woody Allen, Press Secretary, Admiral Stockdale, Treasurer, Charles Keating. Using unidentified sources is like cussing - there’s always a more dignified way of mastery. Off-the-record means you’re circumventing the public’s right to know. You have carte blanche to welch on a verbal confidentiality contract if somebody’s threatened to kill you. The “-30-” at the end of copy means the age you should have gotten out of the profession. Read it and weep. “WE WERE WRONG”- a front page headline at the Florence Morning News when the managing editor sent me to get a copy editor out of bed after a malpractice suit’s outcome was misreported in a headline. Reporter Molly McDonough, now at the Spartanburg N.Y. Times Regional Newspaper Group rag, was sobbing in the newsroom at her story’s butchering. Happens everywhere, folks. It was the end-of-the- world font size, 72 points. Former Superintendent Lester Propst of the Watauga County (N.C.) Board of Education looked me in the eye once and told me a bald-faced lie. I shrug and laugh when this happens. ***** “A small town is a place where there’s no place to go where you shouldn’t.”-Burt Bacharach. Why can strippers disrobe at adult entertainment complexes, and patrons can’t? Where does the fine line of indecent exposure and public Epicurean dancing evaporate? Glenn Puit, my bud now at the Las Vegas paper, said the latest rumor about Tupac’s murder is that it was faked. The coroner told him Tupac had been sighted with Elvis at K-Mart. The Boss sandwich at Hardee’s tastes just like a Huskee Jr. used to taste. There’s a Faberge egg in the home of Sugar Ray Leonard’s parents home in Mullins where Mr. and Mrs. Cicero Leonard grow giant veggies. Charleston Mayor Joe Riley on his last visit here denied knowing about this dirty campaign trick - at a Florence Nick Theodore rally, I followed an unidentified chicken to the Riley headquarters. In 1982 Jesse Helms ambled from the Boone (N.C.) Holiday Inn after an interview about right wing death squad leader Roberto Dubisson, and as he shuffled into the vehicle, driving off, a long-haired hippie, the son of an Appalachian State art professor, yelled out, “Wise up to Dubisson! Wise up to Dubisson!” As a rear car window rolled down, from the darkness came that familiar cornpone drawl DJs love to lampoon: “GIT UH JAWB!” Like white on rice. The Sun News just printed an AP story that came from Charleston, linking organized crime to video poker. On Sunday a bunch of proponents gathered in Surfside Beach, waving flags like good patriots, claiming their right to rob the poor to feed their greedy bank accounts and line their pockets with the intestines of infants. There was a story about a parent who left an infant in a hot car to die while the gambling game continued inside a video poker joint. This morning I was calling a police department in New Kensington, Pa. to try to talk Download 2.99 Mb. Share with your friends:
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