Sunday, March 07, 2010
Metro columnist Dan Casey: Things that rile, inspire Casey
Dan Casey is The Roanoke Times' metro columnist.
dan.casey
@roanoke.com
981-3423
Dan Casey
Recent columns
- There's a slip twixt cup, lip for Roanoke coffee shop owner
- 82 years of food fit for the King
- At work, on floor, in life: Rick Schmitt had all the right moves
Read Dan's blog
Tomorrow marks a year of this column, and my, that time has passed quickly.
The purpose today is to take stock and try to figure out where to go from here.
First, thank you for reading. Few people ever get a soapbox like this one, and I appreciate how fortunate I am to have it.
Second, thank you for calling, and writing, and e-mailing your thoughts, criticism and more.
Whether you agree with my ramblings or disagree, engaging with you readers is the most fun part of this job by far.
Some of you have been very kind with adjectives such as "fearless." Many others believe a more applicable term is "foolish." Either way, listening to you is how I grow in this job.
From the outset, one goal of this column has been to provoke: anger, laughter, tears, pride or thoughts. Anything but yawns.
Am I reaching that goal? Is there a better way to get there? I'd love to hear your thoughts about that.
Many people have asked, "Where do you get all of your ideas?"
There's no simple answer, because they come from all over.
Some are mine. Others come from hardworking reporters or editors here at the paper. Some arise from stories in it, and elements of outrage that range from small to large.
I get incensed when average people are getting screwed, or police arrest performance artists, or when self-pitying politicians stand before TVs and whine, or sharp operators profit off dullards.
Even if it's legal that doesn't make it right.
A sizable proportion of ideas come from readers who call or write e-mails or letters with something like, "I wish you would do a column" on this subject or that.
That's what happened in January, when a supermarket checkout clerk called to share her chagrin at all the junk food she sees purchased by some people who receive food stamps.
And that's also how I heard about Cuc Cao, the widowed Vietnamese immigrant who struggled to raise three children by herself and who refused to sit still when a repo towing firm and a finance company ripped her off.
Please keep that up, folks.
Cao's story conjures another theme you may have noticed in this space: an introduction to people you probably wouldn't have known about otherwise.
In race, age, background and many other factors, they are quite different. But they all share one quality: When confronted with adversity, they don't give up.
Those include Charlie and Sue Rowe, the downtown music store owners who with dignity, perseverance and grace wage a daily battle against economic forces that have ringed American cities with big-box discount competitors.
Gina Holmes' desire to move from salaried nurse to published novelist prompted her to write like mad for years before she earned anything more than snack money. Her first novel "Crossing Oceans" will be released on Mother's Day, by the way.
Fred Saunders of Salem did not let age, heart trouble, cancer or spinal surgery interfere with his dream of riding a motorcycle to Alaska and back at the not-exactly tender age of 81.
And nothing stops Douglas Martin, the greeter and "Mayor of Roanoke Memorial Hospital," who has smiled and hummed his way into colleagues' and patients' hearts for more than 51 years.
I get energized in telling their stories, but not so much in writing about myself.
On some occasions I've heard from readers that you want to know more about me. OK, here is a bit.
I'm 51, the oldest of four kids, and grew up in New York, New Jersey and (mostly) Maryland.
The paper hired me as a reporter in 1994 and I love living and working in the Roanoke Valley.
I've been married to a beautiful, understanding and forgiving woman for 23 years. Her name is Donna.
In many ways she's more conservative than I, but we're both different shades of moderate. She works full time outside the house, and she handles the money because I'm rotten at that.
We're very proud of our three daughters, ages 16 to 22, and our son who's 11.
Just like many of you, we struggle to make ends meet. Mostly, but not always, we're lucky beneficiaries of much good fortune.
OK, enough with the navel-gazing.
Thank you for reading.
One year down, more to come.
Dan Casey's column runs Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
