http://www.masslive.com/localbuzz/stories/index.ssf?/base/buzz/1180548354103830.xml&coll=3
So in spite of spelling my name wrong (it’s Kelley with two e’s) and number of appearances on Bill O’Reilly (it was exactly two, plus one on The Today Show) the article came out okay, although I find the title a little odd.
I was a little worried after I went to the The Buzz website to check out the publication figuring by the articles, ads, and hip title it targets 18-25 year olds. Not that in my graying years I can’t still relate to that dynamic age group.
Instead of mentioning “multiple times” that I’m a karate expert I should have pointed out that in the 35 years as a black belt I have never once used martial arts outside of a sporting or teaching context. Although last week I came very close to engaging a moving automobile.
I should have added to my socially liberal list that I’m pro women’s right to chose, and I alienated many of my conservative compatriots by strongly supporting the smoking ban in bars (voted most controversial issue of the year in 1999 by the Amherst Bulletin) where Amherst was in the forefront of something now considered routine.
Perhaps the title Lonesome Cowboy comes from a President Reagan reference or, of course, my final quote. Oddly when Mr. Peters first contacted me via email at the beginning of May he seemed to be doing an article on conservatives as in the pleural sense:
“Mainly, we've decided to do a story about the conservative population in Western Mass simply because we rarely, if ever, read about conservative culture in this area. We're hoping to shed some light on the conservatives that do exist in this area, and discuss their engagement with the local political process.”
Maybe I was the only one they could find? Makes me even lonelier…
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6 comments:
Fun interview!
I was actually a bit more wired than usual when we did the phone interview. I had just gotten off the bike after a 20-mile ride in the afternoon sun and I only had two cans of cold diet coke in the fridge that I chugged down immediately before the interview. And I only had seven minutes for the interview because I had to pick Kira up a school.
I should have mentioned my choice of all time personal heroes, Robert Kennedy, also belies my true leanings. As you may have noticed, I never read prepared remarks at Town Meeting, or Select Board or any other public meetings. Bobby once said that if you truly believe something then you should be able to speak from the heart.
He was probably the only Caucasian in America who could ascend a platform and break the news to an almost exclusively black audience that a white man had just murdered Martin Luther King.
Larry --
First off, our profuse apologies for the errors. No excuse for that.
In the print issue, we actually ran your interview as a sidebar to a larger story (by another writer) focusing on the Smith College Republicans, the author of the blog logicalmeme.com and Mike Franco. We'd originally hoped to have that writer interview you, as well. Frankly, though, I didn't want what you had to say to get lost or shortchanged in a longer piece, which is why I decided to have Bill conduct a separate interview.
Thank you very much for participating -- and, again, sorry for our lapses.
Greg Saulmon
Executive Editor, Local Buzz
Hey Greg,
No problem! My proud Irish Mom used to take issue with misspelling Kelley, because she said the extra e was more Irish.
When I finally got to the homeland five years ago I found a Pub (naturally), print shop and Restaurant all with the Kelly spelling. I finally asked the town elder what's up with that?
He said the extra e was "old Irish."
Glad to hear there's more just little old me in the Happy Valley with a conservative rep.
Yeehaw, Cowboy! There is a category for your views among the Republicans, these days - neoconservative. Typically they are fiscally conservative, strong on defense, pro public schooling, and charter schools, but much more liberal on the social issues than the traditional cons.
Hey Izzy!
Thanks for reminding me about Charter Schools. I took a lot of heat over the Chinese Charter Immersion School (biked over to KidsSports this morning to look over the building as a possible location.)
And as you know, I love homeschoolers as well.
Yeah, I should have known the Republicans would come up with a category for cowboys like me: To quote that great song censored in Amherst: "There's a place for us."
But then, my Irish Catholic mother would roll over in her grave if I ever officially switched from Independent to Republican (she even gave me grief when I switched from Dem to Independent).
Speaking of neoconservatives, I would love to get Rudy Giuliani to come to Amherst on 9/11 and hold a flag with me in town center since the town refuses to fly them. And hey, if Rudy comes maybe even our former Governor Mitt Romney would show up as well.
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