Colonel Hugh X. Lewis, In Memoriam, December 25, 1930--December 30, 2020

  

Hubert Bradley Lewis, known professionally as Colonel Hugh X. Lewis, died in Nashville, Tennessee, on December 29, 2020, only 4 days after hie 90th birthday due to Covid 19.  He had been born on Christmas Day 1930, in Yeadis, Kentucky, during the heart of the Great Depression and rose to nationwide fame as a country music singer and songwriter.  He was not touring but was still actively working until he became ill.  He was hosting a weekly radio show on WSGS-FM 101 in Hazard, Kentucky, and was a regular caller to the Faron And Scott Show on that station.  During those telephone calls, he would tell some of his thousands of stories about his life as a star in the world of country music from the 1950's to the time of his death. He had known, worked with, and often written songs for many of the biggest names in country music.  He had been married to his wife, Anna Mae Lewis, for 69 years at the time of his death.  He was always devoted to his wife and family and could accurately be described as a "family man" as you can see in the photo below.  He reputedly began hitchhiking from Southeastern Kentucky to Nashville to try to get a start in the music business shortly after he was married and working as a coal miner.  He was a fascinating man with a wonderful memory right up until his death, loved to meet and come to know people, no matter who they were, and could literally talk about any subject.  He will be greatly missed and long remembered both by those who knew and worked with him and by thousands who knew him only as a wonderful story teller on WSGS. 

 

 I have been a regular listener to WSGS-FM 101 in Hazard, KY, for more than 60 years and in the last few years one of the best aspects of that station, which I consider to be the best radio station around, was the fact that about once a week The Colonel would call in to the Faron And Scott Show and talk at length about his long career in country music, the stars and common people he knew, the places he played, the songs and poetry he wrote, and the long happy, productive life he had led. I'm sorry I never got to know him personally. It is a real tragedy that he died at a time when he was still being productive and from a pandemic which never had to happen if the federal government had done its job in early 2020. Hugh X. Lewis has now joined Charley Pride, Joe Diffy, and John Prine on the list of innocent victims of this American tragedy. Somewhere, that is a pretty damn good band! 

 

 

Governor Andy Beshear, Franklin D. Roosevelt, And The Fireside Chats!

As the Corona Virus disaster has steadily devoured the health and the lives of everyday Americans, I have felt blessed on a daily basis to live in Kentucky where Andy Beshear is our governor and is doing an incredible job of intervening in the crisis on a statewide basis, of remaining calm and thereby keeping Kentuckians calm, and of steadily being a leader of whom we can be proud and in whom we can unflinchingly place our trust. 

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear

Every day at 5pm, Governor Beshear steps up the podium in the press room at the state capitol in Frankfort and begins a daily briefing on the situation with the Corona Virus.  Each of those briefings begins with a postive affirmation: "We Will Get Through This!  We Will Get Through This Together!"  That might sound a bit trite or old fashioned but, By God, it works!  It is a major part of how Governor Beshear joins with the electorate including those who made the near tragic mistake of voting against him when he was running against an opponent who had already proven himself unfit to be elected dogcatcher in a poor, poverty stricken district.  That affirmation is a major influence in a campaign that has made Kentuckians feel respected, protected, and cared for by their governor in a manner that is not the standard artificial pablum we hear from ordinary politicians in America today.

After that affirmation, Governor Beshear will speak for a few minutes about some positive aspects of the battle against the Corona Virus in Kentucky.  He will generally show some combination of well organized, realistic graphs and videos which he explains in a straightforward and honest manner.  He pulls no punches.  He tells no lies.  He never denigrates anyone including those who are making the disaster worse in the country as a whole or in specific jurisdictions. He will almost always repeat the words "In this crisis, there are no Republicans, there are no Democrats".  He will not rise to the bait when reporters ask loaded questions in their attempts to induce him to denigrate others.  He will often speak of his religious faith without making it seem contrived, self serving, or hypocritical.   Yet, while he serves as a deacon in his church and states it openly, I cannot even tell you the name of the church he attends.  He is simply a man of deep religious faith who is not ashamed to speak about it while simultaneously not using it as a rod with which to chastise others.

Governor Beshear will then move on to some positive news about the crisis including a listing of the actions which he and his management team have taken to minimize the crisis in Kentucky.  Then, in the middle of his presentation, he will give a straightforward and honest accounting of the number of new cases of Corona Virus in Kentucky, the total number of cases in the state, any new deaths in the previous 24 hours, and the total number of deaths in the state.  Then he will go over some more brief, positive news before taking questions both from the limited number of reporters in the room and from a selection either e-mailed, telephoned, or placed on social media by the general public.  This method of organizing his press conferences is a classic example of what mental health therapists, and perhaps lawyers such as the governor call "sandwiching" in oral presentations either in the therapy or court room settings.  "Sandwiching" is a technique for placing negative, distasteful, or harmful information in the middle of a presentation preceded and followed by more positive information.  This combination has been steadily proven to be most effective in both mental health therapy and other oral presentations when the presenter is working to lead the recipient to make positive decisions.  It works!  Governor Andy Beshear led all fifty national governors in approval ratings in a recent nationwide poll with an 86% approval rating.  In my opinion, he deserves that much approval and more.  He is doing an excellent job on a daily basis in one of the most destructive times in the history of the nation.


A few days ago, it suddenly occurred to me that the way Governor Beshear is handling the Corona Virus crisis is very similar to the way President Franklin D. Roosevelt handled the Great Depression and World War II.  They both have used truth, (cold hard truth) backed up with facts, constructive actions, intelligent and intelligible plans, compassion, excellent teamwork and team building, and the development of mutual respect with their audiences. The great country music singer Del Reeves and the classic Bluegrass Music singer Del McCoury were both named after Franklin D. Roosevel and so was I.  My middle name is Delano just as are the first names of those two famous musicians.  I have not, and I do not believe they ever have regretted having that unusual name as a part of our own.  In my opinion, Franklin D. Roosevelt was the greatest president in American History, and I have never favorably compared anyone to FDR.  Furthermore, I never thought that I ever would.  But I gladly compare Governor Andy Beshear to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.   He has earned that comparison. 

FDR, Photo by Market Watch

During the Great Depression and World War II, FDR used what became known as Fireside Chats to comfort, console, lead, inform, advise, and solidify the country.  They are the best and most famous use of mass media, especially radio, by a president to achieve success for the nation.  When FDR first began making his Fireside Chats, reporter wrote the words below:

"The president wants to come into your home and sit at your fireside for a little fireside chat,” announced Robert Trout on the airwaves of CBS in March 1933. It was the first of ’President Franklin D. Roosevelt's famous radio talks addressing the problems and successes, of  {the} Great Depression, and later, World War II. President Roosevelt had not originally planned a title for these broadcasts, but the name “Fireside Chat,” coined by CBS station manager Harold Butcher in reference to the president’s conversational speaking style, stuck. Over Franklin D. Roosevelt’s twelve years in office, the Fireside Chats would connect the White House to ordinary American homes as never before. https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-fireside-chats-roosevelts-radio-talks

I have no idea whether Governor Andy Beshear deliberately models his daily press conferences and televised visits with the citizens of Kentucky after the Fireside Chats.  But I suspect he might have.  Whether or not he did, it is a wonderful thing for the state that they turned out that way.  He has progressed from an election which he won by only a little over 5,000 votes over an incredibly stupid,  unethical, and unlikable opponent into the most popular governor in the nation and he has earned every iota of appreciation he receives.  I sincerely hope the entire country survives this crisis and I know that Governor Andy Beshear does also.  I also hope that after he has completed his service of eight years as governor that he is chosen to a higher office such as United States Senator or President.  I cannot think of anyone in the country I would trust more in the White House in this time when we have no one in that building in which to place trust.