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Fall-Winter 2001 Newsletter
General Winery News Special Report Harvest Report Phelps Preferred Awards and Reviews Personnel Corner |
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General Winery News:
One People, One Society: Solidarity
 By Tom Shelton
In the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the United States, I am reminded of my first encounter with existential fear. It was near the conclusion of the Cuban Missile Crisis and Mrs. Beasley's 4th grade class was uncharacteristically silent as the clock above the chalkboard ticked closer to the hour in which the fabled mushroom cloud was predicted to appear. Then, however, we were prepared by countless "duck and cover" drills to use our flip-top desks as protection from the holocaust. I knew better. On the evening before, the concern in my father's eyes revealed what his World War II veteran stoicism hoped to conceal. We lived in Montgomery County, Maryland, in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and I had heard enough "ground zero" chatter among my parents and their friends to know that my pine desk-top was not strong enough. We were vulnerable. On September 11, 2001 the mushroom cloud did appear above the collapse of the twin towers of the World Trade Center and our nation's vulnerability was painfully apparent in the vivid broadcasts of the broken Pentagon Building. Our security lay in tatters, an incidental casualty amidst a ruin of human life. But, before the smoke would clear, before comprehension would coalesce, before our losses would be counted, before our politicians would speak, before our military would react, and before our nation would mourn, we knew and we felt the solidarity of a great people. The Cuban Missile Crisis never completely faded from memory. Even as I grew into teenage years, the shrill of an emergency siren produced a fearful reaction. Now, as our nation searches for accountability we must guard against fearful reactions. Suspen-sion of personal freedom and the ascension of xenophobia are the manifestations of fear and the triumph of terrorism. We must conquer fear even during our deliberate search for the profile of a faceless enemy, even as we bury our friends, and even as we begin, again, to construct a new foundation for our security. Tom Shelton is President & CEO of Joseph Phelps Vineyards. |
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