Brother Takes Over TLC Beatrice
NEW YORK ( AP ) ? Dr. Benjamin Hooks, executive director of CEO
of the NAACP, bow his head in prayer during the \.AACP's annual
meeting in New York Saturday. Hooks is scheduled to retire from the
organizaiton on April 1. Hooks talked at the meeting centered on the
Rev. Jessie Jackson taking over the helm of the NAACP. Jackson
refused to discuss whether he would run the organization if asked.
Minorities Underrepresented
NEW YORK CAP) ? He makes his 6-foot-3
presence quietly felt. You'd never guess Jean S.
Fugett Jr. was a lawyer, broadcaster, former
newspaperman, Super Bowl veteran, Amherst
scholar.
Nor would he likely volunteer he is the
younger brother and successor of the late Regi
nald F. Lewis, one of America's boldest entre
preneurs who engineered the success of TLC
Fugett
owned company.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Minorities have made little progress in get
ting to run American farms, a new Agriculture Department report says.
Just 1 ,6 percent of the farm managers, operators and self-employed farm
ers are black, although blacks make up more than 12 percent of the U.S.
, population. While 9 percent of Americans say they are of Hispanic ori
gin, that figure is 2.6 percent among those who operate farms. The fig
ures crirhe'from an analysis by USDA's Economic Research Service of
1990 U.S. Census data, which showed ^hat a total of 5.7 million Ameri
cans are "farm entrepreneurs."
Vandellas, Marvelettes Seek Back Royalties
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Motown has been sued by members of The
Vandellas and The Marvelettes, who claim the record company broke
contracts by failing to pay royalties on such 1960s hits as "Heat Wave''
and "Please, Mr. Postman."
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, asks Motown to con
duct an audit and pay any money due under longstanding contracts.
A Motown spokesman didn't immediately return a call Wednesday
seeking commint. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Superior Court.
Martha an^The Vandellas recorded "Heat Wave,'* "Dancin' in the
Street" and "Jimmy Mack."
Marvelettes' hits include "Please, Mr. Postman," which was
recorded by the Beatles and other groups, as well as "Beechwood 4
5789" and "Don't Mess With Bill."
Original Ink Spot Dies
PORTLAND. Ore. (AP) ? A1 Rivers, an original member of the Ink
Spots singing group in the 1940s and 50s, has died of cancer at the age of
65. Rivers was bom March 25. 1927. in Birmingham. Ala., and gradu
ated from Parker High School in June 1944. He died Wednesday at his
home in Vancouver. Wash., where he had moved from Portland several
years ago. From 1949 to 1958. Rivers sang with the Ink Spots, recording
such songs as "If I Didn't Care," "To Each His Own," and "Don't Get
Around Much Anymore.'"
-Nation of Islam Did Not Order Murder
CHICAGO (APi ? Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan used the
28th anniversary of Malcolm X's assassination to say his organization's
founder. Elijah Muhammad, did not order the killing.
But Farrakhan said the anger caused by Malcolm X's criticism of
Muhammad could have prompted any number of people in the organisa
tion to kill him.
Ihreejmen. including iwojnembers-of the Nation of lslam. werc sen
tenced to life in prison for shooting Malcolm X as he spoke at New
York's Audubon Ballroom on Feb. 21. 1965.
Farrakhan spoke Sunday to a crowd of about 1 1.000 at the Univer
sity of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion. He said he was breaking his long public
silence on Malcolm X to clear up many questions that Spike Lee's movie
raised about the black Muslim leader.
Lee Suggests Blacks Boycott College Athletics
STATE COLLEGE. Pa. (AP) ? Black college athletes should refuse
to play until conditions for minorities improve, filmmaker Spike Lee told
an audience at Penn State.
"You have to hk them in the pocketbook." Lee said Monday. "You
talk about these big football and basketball TV contracts and you have no
black athletes ... it could work. It's the only way."
Lee was responding to a question about the takeover by black stu
dents of the campus telecommunications building in April 1988. Protes
tors demanded the administration step up efforts to recruit black stu
dents. . _
Letter Surfaces Denying Hearing
KNOXV1LLE . Tenn. (AP) ? An attorney for the Alex Haley estate
has released a 1979 letter from the Pulitzer Prize Board which states it
would not hear allegations of plagiarism or consider revoking Haley's
award. The letter was issued two years after Haley won the Pulitzer Prize
in the "special citation" category for his book, Roots: The Saga of an
American Family. Portions of Haley's work have come under question
by an article in the New York City Weekly the Village Voice. The article
alleges Haley was guilty of plagiaftm and suggested the article could
lead to Haley's award being revoked. The statement was issued one year
after Haley settled a plagiarism lawsuit for $650,000 with Harold Court
lander, author of the 1966 book The African. At that time. Haley issued a
statement expressing regret that portions of Courtlander's book had
ended. up*in Roots.
Century-old Woman Shar
es Secret To Long Life
B\ KAREN M H-WNON
Ciiro/ . /c Stat? W riter
Estelle Eaton said there are Iwb
v?.ords sTie^seldom uses ? age and
color. " 4
NV'hile some people stop telling
the truth about their age when they
reach 40. Eaton is proud to tell you
she's 102.x
And as an active, energetic
102-year-old who is believed to be
the oldest living graduate of Win
ston-Salem State University, Eaton
said it's her love of people ? no
matter what color ? that has sus
tained her all these years.
' I've learned to stay away from
"the color of a person's skin," Eaton
said. "I ve traveled around the world
and there are so many gracious peo
ple. 1 wouldn't hate somebody for
the color of their skin."
Eaton, who considers herself
more of a teacher than a speaker,
addressed a standing-room-only
crowd of nearly 50 people at the
Bethesda Center for the Homeless
during the center's Black History
Month observance Monday.
Although her voice faded occa
sionally during her 20-minute talk,
she told the crowd the key to a long
life is showing love.
"I am fascinated by the eyes of
maliae and intolerance don't belong
in this world ... Before he was con
demned. our Lord told his disciples,
I loved you. I came to give you
love.' So as you go out to work with
people, remember to lo\e.
Eaton also said no matter w hat
your walk of life, you should never
give up.
If you're not reading as w ell l_as_
you want to. don t give up." she
said. Whatever you start to do. if
you're not quite satisfied with it.
don t give up."
Eaton has trouble hearing, but
said she wants to erase the stereo
type that older people are not pro
ductive citizens.
You know, when you get a
certain age, no matter what kind of
work you re doing, sometimes peo
ple will say. They need to get out
now. They're getting too old. " she
said. "I thought that was going to
happen in my church. So I got a few
ladies together and we organized a
hand bell choir. Now we perform
aboift one or twice a month for
school children."
Eaton has dedicated her life to
education.
She graduated frgflj Scotia
Seminary, once a high school in
Concord, which later became Bar
ber-Scotia College. She said years
later, when she decided she wanted
to go to college, she realized she
didn't have enough high school
credits because her school didn't
teach science or language.
By then, she said, she had
moved to Winston-Salem.
"I lived across the street from
Atkins (High School)," she said, "so
I went to school with my son to
study chemivtrs
and French.
Eaton said
after graduating
from Atkins, she
received a teach
ing decree from
W i n s t o n - S a 1 e m
Teachers College
(now Winston
Salem State).
She taught 12
years in the
Forsyth County
school system and
then received her
master s degree
from Columbia
University. She
taught two years
at Tuskegee Insti
tute in Tuskegee,
Ala., and returned
to North Carolina
to work as a
s crp e j v i s i n g
teacher f/fr the
state in Robeson
County.
From there.
Eaton worked ?pr 12 years at Eliza
beth City State Teachers' College
(now Elizabeth City State Univer
sity) before retiring.
Even after her retirement,
Eaton's work as an educator didn't
end.
' She returned to Barber-Scotia
as assistant dean and taught reme
dial reading.
Dr. H. Rembert Malloy, who
Estelle Eaton, the oldest living graduate of Winston
Salem State University, spoke at the Bethesda Center
for the Homeless in recognition of Black History
Month.
has volunteered at the center for
seyen years, said he invited Eaton to
speak because she is someone who
has seen black history develop.
Christian, Mrs. Eaton has had a
great influence on the lives of our
youth," he said. "The reason she had
lived so long is because she had
lived with God all her life."
Gaines: A Career of Contributions
A Attles, Embry, Wooden
And Durham Offer Praise
By MARK R MOSS
Chronicle Staff Writer
The word most often used to
describe Clarence "Bighouse"
Gaines' career both in and out of
basketball is "contribution.1'
From the East coast to the
West^thjpse in and out of basketball
used that word ? - or a synonym ?
to describe the impact Gaines has
had not only on the sport, but on the
lives of those with whom he has
come in contact.
' A1 Attles^ vice president and
general manager for the Golden
State Warriors, said Gaines had a
"tremendous" impact on the game.
"I have nothing but the highest
regard for the man," said Attles, a
former star basketball player at N.C.
A&T State University in Greens^
boro. "The most amazing thing
about what Gaines did was that he
was able to do it with tthe athletes,"
he said.
Attles referred to the budget
limits that hampered the recruitment
of top athletes. And when white
schools began opening doors to
black athletes, he said, that further
shrank the talent pool for black
schools.
Regardless. Gaines always
played the hand he was dealt. And
when he announced his retirement
from Winston-Salem State Univer
sity last week, he did so as the win
ningest active coach in college bas
ketball.
The announcement was the cul
mination of weeks of controversy
surrounding the tenure of the
revered coach and teacher. Gaines
wanted to remain at the school
despite a state mandatory law that
calls for his retirement at age 70.
Gaines, who turns 70 in May,
served the school for 47 years, 30 as
head basketball coach. His retire
ment is effective June 30.
"I am one who appreciates
what his generation did for us," said
Wayne Embry, executive vice presi
dent for the Cleveland Cavaliers,
who is black. "They paid for
us.They took all the knocks and
bruises. I've always had the utmost
regard for what he stood for."
Embry and Gaines serve on the
Basketball Hall of Fame Board of
Trustees. It was during those meet
ings, Embry said, that he got to
know Gaines well.
Embry agreed that the odds
over the years have been stacked
against Gaines, and that it is testi
mony to him what he has accom
plished against those odds. Gaines
had the opportunity to move on to
other schools, he said, and that he
didn't says a lot about Gaines' dedi
cation to Winston-Salem State. "He
would have distinguished himself at
any institution," Embry said.
They also shared some light
moments. Embry recalled when the
Coach Gaines
two worked with the U.S. Olympic
Team in Indiana. Gaines, known
affectionately as "Bighouse" for his
towering physical stature, located a
diner that served banana cream pie,
Embry said, and stunned the restau
rant employees when he ate an
entire pie.
"The staff would just get ,a pie
ready when they saw him coming,"
Embry said.
"The first time I saw him," said
Woody Durham, play-by-play
announcer for the University of
North Carolina-Chapel Hill basket
ball games, "I was overwhelmed by
his size. It didn't take very long to
see how he got his name."
Durham, who said he met
Gaines in 1963 when he began his
broadcasting career, said that
despite the man's size he was "sen
sitive and caring."
"But that didn't mean that he
didn't make his players walk the
line," Durham said.
All the good qualities in a
coach, Durham said, are personified
in Gaines. What stood out most
about <3aines, he said, was his
humility.
"Nothing was ever a big deal to
him," Durham said. The year
Gaines won the CIAA champi
onship, Durham said, the coach
enjoyed it, but at the same time, sort
of diminished it.
"He said to one reporter a good
coach is only as good as his play
ers," he said. "He has always been a
favorite of mine. "
John Wooden, the legendary
coach of UCLA in the 1960s and
1970s, said he had met Gaines once
and didn't know him well.
"I didn't hear about Clarence
until he had been in the profession
for a while and started winning all
those victories," Wooden said. "He's
the type of person who will cer
tainly be missed."
Residents Angered Over Assessment from page A 1
One reason for the lower
appraisals, he said, was that the area
contains a mixture of vacant land,
condemned houses, duplexes and
some blighted apartment buildings.
But one of the main criteria used to
determine the value of a home is the
marketplace, Sprinkle -said. What a
seller wants for a home and what he
actually sells it for is what the
county uses as a yardstick to deter
mine the value of other homes in a
community.
Sprinkle pointed to six areas on
the map that indicated the number
of homes sold in the area since 1988
to 1991. A chorus of boos erupted
from the gathering. Jocelyn John
son, president of the association,
asked how many people in the audi
ence had recently purchased homes
in the neighborhood. More than six
raised their hands.
"If you know of sales that have
taken place that we don't know
about, we'd appreciate you sharing
with us any information you may
have,'' Sprinkle said.
Arrest Backfires On Yadkin Deputy from page A1
Lytic, who was wearing a
Walkman, said he felt an arm wrap
around his neck that "nearly
knocked my head off." He felt
something sticking in his hack.
"I asked him if he had a gun in
my back and the man just said,
Don't move,'" Lytle said in an inter
view iew. "I thought I was being
robbed." Lytle said he noticed from
the man's arm and shoulder that he
was a law enforcement officer. He
said the man told him to turn around
and walk back up the hill towards a
day-care center. With North's gun
still pointing at Lytle's back, the two
marched through the parking lot and
into the day-care center. Lytle said
North did not attempt to disarm him
or to unload the fully loaded shot
gun.
"That's when I thought he was
totally irrational," Lytle said. "Why
was he bringing me into a day-care
center where all these kids are and
both of us got guns?"
North called Winston-Salem
police, Lytle said, and said they
would wait for the police in North s
car. But because North's wife and 2
year-old son were in the car, Lytic
said, North told him that he would
have to handcuff him.
"At this point, I'm getting very
concerned about my safety," said
Lytle. "I told him that first of all, I
haven't committed a crime; sec
ondly, I have been very cooperative;
and, thirdly, this is not your jurisdic
tion." After the two wrestled in the
parking lot of the day-care center
North managed to get the handcuffs
on Lytle.
When police arrived, Lytle said,
the deputy explained the situation.
"The cops made it clefcr that
they weren't quite certain that what I
had done was illegal," said Lytle.
The police told North he could
leave. Lytic said. "But I didn't want
him to go bccausc I wanted to press
charges, "he said.
The city police took Lytic to the
warrant office, where North was
charged with assault with a deadly
weapon and false imprisonment.
Yadkin Sheriff Jack Hendersbft -
said he fired North after Lytle filed
the charges. He refused to say the
charges were the reason for North's
dismissal. "You can read between
the lines." he said.
Henderson described North as
being knowledgeable as far as legal
matters were concerned, and said he
was "very bright and well thought
of' by his colleagues. He also said
North "was not a prejudiced person.
"North is white; Lytic is black.
Forsyth Count) District Attor
ney Tom Keith said that statutes
allow people to carry a gun as long
as it is not concealed. Statutes
define an illegal firearm as one with
a barrel less than 18 inches long,
Keith said. Lytle's shotgun was legal
by half an inch.
Keith said North's major error
was making the arrest, regardless of
whether Lytle's gun was illegal.
"This guy is a private citizen
when he comes to Forsyth County,"
Keith said. "He had no business
arresting anybody. "Keith said the
charges were misdemeanors and
carried a maximum two-year prison
term upon conviction.
Lytle said that wasn't the first
time he had been stopped by police
for carrying a shotgun. Winston
Salem police once stopped him, too,
he said. He explained why he was
carrying the weapon. He said thc\
were courteous and understanding,
and he continued on to his destina
tion.