Traveling across the state, one is amazed by the beauty of the Natural State and what it has to offer. Larger, well-developed metropolitan areas such as Fayetteville, Jonesboro and the Little Rock area interspersed with smaller towns and rich farmlands serve to remind us that we are far removed from the backward hillbilly image by which we have frequently been portrayed. That image, perhaps fomented by some of our earliest historians, has survived to the present time.
There was a story in this newspaper by The New York Times Anna Kodé recently about how interior decorators use fake books to dress up spaces and make their clients look erudite. This practice is mildly controversial, but nothing new.
I m among that fortunate group of Arkansans who read Mike Trimble s stories and columns in the Arkansas Gazette. Running out to the driveway to pick up that morning s Gazette was part of my routine as a boy growing up in Arkadelphia. The Gazette s "Arkansas Traveler" column was one of the first things I read.