'Shame, embarrassment and ...disbelief'

Readers reacted to a Sunday column with their own distinct memories of the writings of James J. Kilpatrick, who gave up his popular column "The Writer's Art" recently.

Several readers noted that I gave the wrong Virginia county that closed its schools as part of Virginia's reaction to the Brown v. Board of Education decision. It was Prince Edward County, not Prince William.

Here's a sampling of responses:

From a Charlotte reader:

I too have enjoyed his Writer's Art articles but could never overcome the nauseous memory of his extreme racism, lack of respect for equal rights, lack of respect for the Supreme Court, lack of respect for justice itself. While Editor of the News Leader he represented the worst of Virginia politics & politicians.
I think you will find that it was Prince Edward County Schools that were closed. What a disgrace.

From a Richmond reader:

While a delightful man whom I was honored to know while he was in Richmond, I learned from another of his articles years ago that his advice for women was to "stay home and learn to make a good spaghetti sauce." Odd, from a man who was married to two exceptional women with their own careers.


From another Charlotte reader:

Your column caused me some consternation as I read it this morning. I have been an avid reader of Mr. Kilpatrick's column because I care about our English language. It seems that he has been one of the decreasingly few who have tried to clarify the rules of English grammar and his helpful and succinctly stated advice has encouraged better writing by many. Indeed, his column, The Writers Art, is one I have turned to with pleasure when opening the op-ed page of the Charlotte Observer on Saturday mornings.
Although I have many disagreements with his political views, I certainly appreciate his efforts to maintain the integrity of my much loved English language.

Another reader wrote back:

Over the years I have been sickened each time I saw Kilpatrick's 'The Writer's Art' in the newspaper the idea of such a person with such views putting on an avuncular front is nothing short of creepy. There are many, many broken lives from the Prince Edward school closing years (1959-1963) both black and white. The county was poor, about evenly divided between black/whites and, continuing school, by relocating or attending private school, was out of the reach of most residents-Kilpatrick was a major contributor to that state of affairs.
May his name and every word that he has ever written be quickly forgotten by all who lay claim to the name 'human'.

Steve Ford, editorial page editor of the News & Observer, who grew up in Virginia, noted in his Sunday column
that late in his writing career, Kilpatrick bemoaned his views on desegregation, looking back on that period "with shame, embarrassment and something close to disbelief. We defenders of school segregation were so very wrong! Legally wrong. Morally wrong. We should have been devoting our energies not to better white schools and better black schools, but simply to better schools, period."