Roy Exum
Lisa Whaley, who is today the vice president of Human Resources for Tenent Healthcare in Dallas, read my Friday story and helped solve the identity of a quiet, unsung hero who once changed a fearful young boy’s life. In the story I wrote about Brinkley Walton who, as a student at the old Eastdale Elementary School, was terrified during a troubling time of integration but a kind white man the kids only knew as “Coach Hicks” changed all of that.
Several years ago, after having dinner with his former Brainerd High teammates, Brinkley shared what a giant that “Coach Hicks” had been at the time and how he’d never forget what the little league coach had done to change his life and bury his fears once long ago. When Charles Brinkley Walton died last week, the story was revived but I was unable to learn anything about “Coach Hicks” or what had happened to him. It turns out Lisa Whaley knew him quite well.
“Coach Hicks was my dad,” she wrote. “His name was Freed Hicks and he passed away from cancer 30 years ago at age 59, the same age as Brinkley was when he passed away. Some of the parents of kids on that team came to our house to complain about Brinkley (and Jeff Sears) and threatened to pull their kids off the team.
“My Dad would bring a huge thermos of water to practice and to the games and the parents would complain that the boys all drank from the same jug,” she explained. “These things along with the insults he received only made my Dad more convicted about having Brinkley and Jeff on the team. Dad would be so proud to know that he made such a difference in Brinkley’s life.
“I have received so many texts and emails today from people who remember the courageous and good man my Father was. It’s great to know that he lives on in the hearts of people he touched even today. Thank you for this unexpected tribute to him,” she wrote.
Funeral services for Charles Brinkley Walton, who became a star athlete at Brainerd High, will be held Monday at 11 a.m. at the John P. Franklin Funeral Home chapel. He joined the Army after graduating from Brainerd, participated in Desert Storm and then, on the GI Bill, earned his college diploma in psychology at UTC. He will be buried in the National Cemetery.
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When a woman in Philadelphia was abducted last week, police quickly found a survelience tape showing the kidnapper’s car. On the tape they recognized the dealer plate and called the dealership, wondering if they might have secretly put a GPS device on the car in case the customer didn’t pay. Within minutes federal agents were able to surround the car in Jessup, Md., and probably saved Carlesha Freeland-Gaither’s life. Her alleged abductor, Devin Barnes, age 37, is still wondering how he got caught.
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A disturbing story is still developing in Birmingham where it is alleged that UAB defensive end Chris Rabb made a $5,000 bet Florida State would trail Louisville at the half the weekend before. Sure enough, the Seminoles were behind 21-7 at intermission before rallying to win 42-31 on the road.
The troubling news is that point-shaving is very illegal and it is well known Rabb is a close friend of Seminole quarterback Jameis Winton. The two played high school football together at Hueytown, Ala.
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You’ll recall Colorado was one of the first two states to legalize recreational use of marijuana so it should be easy for you to understand why, on Friday, Adams City High School went on a partial shutdown after a student’s bong pot filled a classroom with smoke. Evidentally the “bucket” has a gravity feed through water and … well, it misfired.
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The Discovery Channel has a new show called “Eaten Alive” and the producers are planning for a guy to get gobbled down by an anaconda on Dec. 7. Naturalist and wildlife filmmaker and author Paul Rosolie will wear a custom-built snake-proof outfit – soaked in pig’s blood -- for the trick and is claiming, “I am about to be the first person that is going to be eaten alive by an anaconda. I don't expect anyone to believe us until we show it." Animal rights group PETA is not amused, saying it will only “torment” the snake.
royexum@aol.com