Two good friends of Southeast Missouri died this past week, state SEN. JOHN DENNIS and former SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT BILL ATCHLEY.

I'm reprinting a letter to the editor from the SIKESTON STANDARD that illustrates a little of the compassion John provided in his dealings with others.

Senator John Dennis was a friend to all: I noticed with great interest your front page of Feb. 16. The top of the page had the detailed headlines of our former sheriff and senator's death. Right below that was an article regarding a meeting I had on Tuesday with the Scott County Commission.

The main purpose of that meeting was to ask the commission to allocate $3,000 to pay for an informational video to inform the residents of Scott County why we need a new jail. It is to replace the same jail John was using when he was sheriff. The irony of the front page is MediaConsultants' very first client was John Dennis in his run for the state Senate. John also named our company. When we finished the campaign, he wanted to pay me for my services. I told him that was not necessary. I was glad to volunteer. He insisted and said he could pay me $100 as an individual or $1,200, the balance of the campaign treasury, as a company. Again I told John he did not have to pay me. I was a volunteer. He then said again, "I want to pay you." I asked how much he owed for remaining campaign expenses. He said just me. I then said, "Well if you must, make the check out to the company." He asked the name of the company, and I said, "I haven't had time to come up with one." He said, "Well, you consulted me on my media." I said, "John, you just named the company. Let's call it MediaConsultants." That name has been with us from the very start. I have related that story hundreds of times in presentations over the last 24 years. Why? Because I am proud of having worked with John over the years and have taken great pride in him being my mentor for Missouri politics.

Not only did the family lose a senior partner on Tuesday, but so did Southeast Missouri. His mark is on way too many things for me to go into for fear of overlooking some. John was a friend to all of either political party. He was a friend to all he came in contact with while he was sheriff. I recalled this week one story he told me while on the campaign trail.

A young man had stolen some items. John went to him and got the young man to confess to the crime by explaining the evidence they had, which pointed to him. With John's way it saved the taxpayers the cost of a trial but it also got the young man a lighter sentence. As the man was receiving his sentence, he turned to John and thanked him for helping him get a lighter sentence.

How many times in today's society will a criminal thank the sheriff like that? Probably not many. But those of us who knew him knew why he did the things he did. He told me it was the kid's first time in trouble and he would be OK.

Today that young man is a fine member of our community. He looks back on that instance and knows it was a turning point in his life and that John Dennis was the reason he turned his life around. There are hundreds of other John stories we could all tell. They will die with a lot of us someday, but his kindness and true love of his fellow man will long be remembered.

When John passed over on Tuesday, he went in his normal way of doing things: quietly. But his memory will live on in the hearts of many for years to come. When the big bus of life stopped and let John off in Scott County years ago, little did we know how his life would touch us. I thank the good Lord every day for giving us people like John Dennis.

Thanks, John, for having faith in me and giving me that first chance to start something that has lasted for over 24 years, MediaConsultants. -- Rich Wrather, MediaConsultants

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I participated with and against BILL ATCHLEY in sports, politics, our views on education and what's good for the country.

Bill was a passionate guy who told you his strong opinions in a charming way. You had to like him because of his good humor and reasoned principles, which he didn't compromise just to be liked ... though liked he was.

Bill was stricken at a JOHN McCAIN rally in South Carolina last Friday, as a friend e-mailed me who was there. "Pat was with him. Three doctors from the audience came immediately to him and worked like hell to save him to no avail. Bill and I served on our club board together, and he was a fine guy, and I enjoyed my association with him."

I'm sorry that a business trip will keep me from attending the 2 p.m. Saturday memorial service at Ford & Sons Funeral Home for Bill. He will be deeply missed by PAT, his children and other family members, this community and those he had come to know and serve in South Carolina.

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A good friend and former Cape resident made the industry news with the following announcement last week.

"The McClatchy Co. today announced that MIKE SEXTON (formerly publisher of the Southeast Missourian when owned by Thomson Newspapers 14 years ago), president of Central Maine Newspapers since 1995, was named publisher of the Anchorage Daily News (circulation 80,000-plus)."

Sexton, 50, will begin his new job in early March.

"Mike's a seasoned newspaper executive with a strong track record of achievement," said Gary Pruitt, president and chief executive officer of McClatchy. "His reputation as a leader devoted to employees, journalistic excellence and community service makes him a perfect fit for Alaska and the Anchorage Daily News."

In Maine, Sexton led two newspapers, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, the state's capital, and the Central Maine Morning Sentinel in Waterville, both of which are owned by the Seattle Times Co.. From 1992 to 1995, Sexton was publisher of Publications Inc., a direct-marketing company, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and vice president of its parent, Gazette Media Co. Sexton also has been publisher of community newspapers in Wisconsin, Indiana and Missouri. He began his newspaper career as an advertising sales representative in his hometown of Leavenworth, Kan.

Sexton and his wife, Juna, will be moving to Anchorage within the next several weeks. He has two grown children from a previous marriage.

"I look forward to making our home in Alaska and working to build a great future for a great state," Sexton said.

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Questions to ponder:

1. Why is the third hand on the watch called the second hand?

2. If a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how would we ever know?

3. If Webster wrote the first dictionary, where did he find the words?

4. Why do "slow down" and "slow up" mean the same thing?

5. Why do "fat chance" and "slim chance" mean the same thing?

6. Why do "tug" boats push their barges?

7. Why are they called "stands" when they are made for sitting?

8. Why is it called "after dark" when it really is "after light"?

9. Doesn't "expecting the unexpected" make the unexpected expected?

10. Why are a "wise man" and a "wise guy" opposites?

11. Why do "overlook" and "oversee" mean opposite things?

12. Why is "phonics" not spelled the way it sounds?

13. If work is so terrific, why do they have to pay you to do it?

14. If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?

15. Why do we put suits in garment bags and garments in a suitcase?

16. How come "abbreviated" is such a long word?

17. Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

18. Why do they call it a TV set when you only have one?

~Gary Rust is president of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian and other newspapers.