LETTERS: LOTS OF FOLKS HAD A BIG HAND IN WINNING AWARD

To the editor:

It was Mark Twain who noted, "It takes a lot of folks to make a hero." I am certainly not a hero. I am merely the recipient of an award. Jerry Rapp, my co-recipient and partner from the Corps of Engineers, agrees. The credit for the award belongs to a lot of folks.

It took the support of my neighbors, members of our private soil conservation association, Levee District No. 2 and No. 3 board members and Larry Brazel and David Brewer, levee district presidents. It required the skillful and untiring efforts through many years of U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson and then U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and their excellent staff under my incomparable friend, Lloyd Smith. It required the encyclopedic knowledge and constant support of Liz Anderson, editor of the Enterprise Courier in Charleston, Mo. And there were others. I received this award only because of these fine people, and it is in their name I accept it.

Ray Owen's March 18 article was expertly done. It described complicated issues clearly and concisely and was exceptionally gracious to me. However, it took us all. Had it been "One man against the river," our Mighty Mississippi would have washed me under long ago.

LESTER GOODIN

Cape Girardeau