The Davis Enterprise
Barry Garrison's lasting legacy
Published: June 13, 2007
When my daughter told me that Barry Garrison had died, it saddened me a great deal. Barry was not a close friend; he was one of the people I knew after 15 years of living in Davis.
As is commonly the case in our town, I met him through my children as he coached my daughters in youth softball. I actually remember meeting him because he had a full head of gray hair that reminded me of President Clinton. Before I realized that this association would not please Barry, I discovered he was a very friendly man and a good mentor for children.
I also remember the first time I saw one of his letters to the editor in The Enterprise. As I came to discover, Barry was a common contributor of very conservative missives to our local paper. As I read them, I realized Barry and I had absolutely nothing in common politically and each time one came out I would anticipate the next softball practice when I could talk to Barry about what he had written.
An amazing thing happened: We talked. Neither one of us changed the opinion of the other; on matters of politics we simply had different world views. Still, none of this detracted from the fact that Barry was a very friendly man and a good mentor for children.
For me, my relationship with Barry came to represent an alternative to the demonization of the opposition common to the American body politic in the age of talk radio, cable news and blogs. I thanked Barry once for this and I think the feeling was mutual.
Once my daughters' softball playing days ended, I saw less of Barry. My daughter reminded me the last time we did was at the Christmas tree lot this past December. Our greeting that day was warm and pleasant. As we parted, I recalled again that Barry was a good man and that personal politics should not cloud that fact. Thank you, Barry, for helping me learn this lesson.
David Purkey
Davis
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