Dr. Arnold Smith, already known for dabbling in Delta politics, a personal approach to oncology, exceedingly peculiar insurance claims, collecting used bricks, and for being charged in an outlandish scheme to hire a hit on Greenwood attorney Lee Abraham, has written a letter to the editor of the Greenwood Commonwealth. In what the paper calls his first public statement since he was arrested, he addresses the issue of neglect of historic preservation in Greenwood:
[T]he Greenwood oncologist, in a handwritten eight-page letter to the Commonwealth, is preoccupied with what he sees as the loss of historic architecture in Greenwood in recent years — including the Leflore County livestock barns, Perry’s Pawn Shop and the Railway Inn.
“Now I have been asking myself why I feel the loss of these structures was a ‘sacrilege,’ a loss of identity and an insult to tradition that struck at the core of the shrinking Greenwood. The town has been so complacent about this sacrilege, it appears my sense of offense is not shared,” he wrote. “‘Loss of old building with no strong economic use.’ Trash the past. Viva Walmart.”
An odd topic for sure, but as Smith admits in the letter, he’s got an abundance of free time right now to explore ideas.
He holds up Tupelo, Oxford, Memphis, Nashville and Denver, Colorado as exemplars of historic preservation. A lot of counterexamples come to mind, but holding up Memphis (the tear-down of the Stax studio alone…) as a good example seems pretty peculiar. Although far from the most peculiar idea I’ve heard him express.
Dr. Smith also notes in his letter that he is reading The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt.
Perhaps we’ll be getting regular updates.
This guy seems like he’s going to be more entertaining than the typical alleged attempted murderer.
historic architecture in Greenwood
The good physician’s insanity defense may be viable.
He should start a blog.
Oh, that’s rich – coming from a scoundrel like Smith. A lot of us here in Jackson remember him as the owner of the old Watkins house, one of the finest of the old North State Street mansions. He and French restaurateur Bernard Sarme had planned to open a restaurant there, but were denied a zoning variance. Next thing you know, the house is burned to the ground – arson, and there was open speculation that Smith was behind it. That was back in the early Eighties, and it was the talk of the town. Some preservationist.
I agree with WantedToBe, I’d drop that feed in my reader.