■ >
The NEW BERN
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5^ Pei
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VOLUME
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 1959
NUMBER 50
Foolish is the mortal who would
ask more of life than an abiding
faith in God, friendship and respect
from his acquaintances, the love
and companionship of a happy fam
Uy, and a chance to earn his daily
bread in the town he cherishes.
All of these things have come to
Melvin (Jiv^ Fisher, the 37-year-
old Negro shoeshine boy who works
at Service Barber Shop on Broad
street. His calling may not bp high,
but for 14 years he has' followed
it with a dignity and manner that
proves beyond doubt that it isn’t
what you do but how you do it that
really counts.
Although Fisher can shine a pair
of shoes as well as anyone, and
better than most, it’s not his ability
but his attitude that has given him
popularity few New Bernians can
claim or deserve.
Courteous and conscientious, he
is so thoroughly dependable that
everyone would fear the worst if
he failed to show up for work some
morning. To most of the town’s
leading business and professional
men, no day would be complete if
it didn’t include a conversation
with him on his shoeshine stand.
Indicative of the esteem in which
he is ■ held, we happen to know
that a New Bern surgeon whose
name we won’t disclose has per
formed two operations without
charge for Jive. The physicj]
~ fSy^ne
rrgery was on two of his six chil
dren.
But that’s only part of the story.
Fisher never has to pijirchase agy i
clofh“ffig for himself, hi»^%fe, er
the youngsters ranging in age from
10 years to five months. His white
friends keep him well,supplied,
and they do it not through pity,
which he doesn’t need, but simply
because they like him and want to
express it in a tangible and useful
way.
Last summer, for example. Jive
didn’t have to buy any vegetables
for his table. Day in and day out,
folks toted tomatoes, corn, beans,
and other items to the barber shop
to keep his kitchen loaded up. It
takes a lot of vegetables to keep
a half dozen hungry kids satisfied,
but the larder never ran out.
The true test of anyone’s popu
larity is the way he is regarded
by the people he works with on
the job. If he has faults, that’s
where the frailties he is guilty of
will be easily discernible.
Hence, it, is significant that last
Christmas the barbers at the es
tablishment where he is employed
abandoned the practice of giving
each other gifts. Instead, they pool
ed the money usually spent in this
fashion and gave it all to Fisher.
Jive’s first pleasant surprise on
Christmas eve came that morning.
When he arrived at the barber
shop, a large turkey was sitting
for him in the Coca-Cola vending
machine. A friend had fetched it
to the place and left it with hearty
holiday wishes.
■ Beforfe the day was gone, the Ne
gro shoe shine boy’s pockets were
bulging with gifts of cash that
amounted to well over a hundred
dollars. Needless to say. Jive put
the money to good use to make the
Yuletide a momentous one for his
family.
How does Fisher account for the
countless friends he has been l>less-
ed with? He expresses it quite
simply with a Biblical quotation.
“Seek ye first the kingdom of
God,’’ he says, and you know he
believes the passage.
“I don’t know anybody in the
world I don’t like,” he told us with
deep sincerity, “and if there’s any
body who doesn’t like me, I don’t
know it. 'Respect isn’t something
to be demanded, it’s something
you’ve got to earn. I can truthfully
say that no one ever treats me
unkindly or unfairly.”
(Continued on back page)
of Tryon Palace, when'they approactt^e historic rei
tion after its official opening next month.. Louis H. Frohman
of Bronxville, N. Y., an architectual and {industrial photog-
tWC
weeks.
{the camerafor tWs latest in a- series of se**-
s scenes that The Mirror has featured in recent
New Bern's Albert Suskin Is
N
Standout of Distinguished
So many men and women of
great talent reside in Chapel Hill
that the exceptional person is al
most commonplace. Yet, even in
such lofty surroundings of cul
tural excellence. New Bern’s Albert
Irving Suskin has distinguished
himself.
A full professor in Latin at the
University of North Carolina since
1953, his classroom quality is on
par with the military record he
established earlier in World War
n.
Albert served in the Signal Corps
from 1942 to 1945, entering uni
form as a private and attaining the
rank of mastpr sergeant in one
year. Haying been trained in crypt
analysis, he specialized in code
work.
He was sent to England in 1944,
and joined Patton’s Third Army,
for its drive in France and Ger
many. The diminutive New Bern
native, who is just about as peace-
loving a mortal as you could posr
sibly imtigine, received five battle
stars, the Bronze Star, and a special
Oak Leaf Medal from the Duchy of
Luxemburg, where he was stationed
during the Battle of the Bulge.
Born here in 1910, he graduated
from New Bern High school in
1927. “I decided to be a Latin
teacher in high school,” he says
“under the excellent teaching of
Miss Marie Dunlap (later Mrs. Jer
ome Collier).”
Incidentally, Albert has nothing
but praises for the calibre - of edu
cation he was privileged to receive
here in his home town. “My high
school training in general,” he
told The Mirror, “I found to
be very good in comparison with
the preparation of other students
at the University of North Caro
lina at the time.”
At Carolina, where he supported
himself all through college, he re-
ceivfijj his A.B. degree with a maj
or in Latin in 1931. His M.A. de
gree came ^ year later, and his
Ph.D. in 1937, all at the University.
The quiet, unassuming redhead
was appointed a teaching fellow in
Latin in 1933, taught briefly as a
substitute at Judson College in
Marion, Ala., in 1936, and that
Division of the Humanities.
Albert belongs to the American
Philological Association, The Med
ieval Academy, The American As
sociation of University Professors,
and the North Carolina Classical
Association (of which body newly
formed in 1958, Mrs. John F.
Rhodes, Jr., of New Bern High
school is the Vice-President), and
a member of the Senate of the
Council for Basic Education.
In addition to writing a number
of articles in his field, the 49-year-
old educator has written several
books. He authored Index Verbon
um luvenalis, in collaboration with
Lucile Kelling Henderson, an in
dex of the Roman satirist, Juvenal.
Albert’s Roman Literature in
Translation, a revision of a work
done in 1924 by Professors Howe
and Harrer (former heads of the
UNC Classics Department) is be
ing published this month by Harp
er and Bros.
He married one of his students,
Lavinia Lee Smith of Asheville and
Rock Hill. S. C., in May 1953. In-
cidentally, her maternal grand
father was James Pinckney Kinard,
former president of Winthrop col
lege.
The Susklns have one son, Mark,
year became a regular member
of the faculty at the University of
North Carolina. -
From 1946 to 1953 he served as
Assistant to the Dean of the Col
lege of Arts and Sciences, and from
1950 to 1958 was Secretary of the
Department of Classics. At the
present time is Secretary of the
who is four years old and named
for Albert’s father. They have re'
(Continued on back page)