A.M. "Mac Secrest, 1923-2010, A Life Well Lived

AP: Secrest, Anti-Segregationist Editor, Dies at 86

Associated Press report on Mac Secrest's death (published in hundreds of newspapers, including the New York Times.)

LiketheDew.com: A Journal of Southern Culture and Politics: Secrest was, of course, right. Reader comments, 40 so far.

Durham Herald-Sun Editor Bob Ashley: Remembering A Courageous Journalist

Raleigh News and Observer Editorial: Courageous and Far-Seeing Native Son

Charlottesville (VA) Daily Progress: The Losses Keep Coming

North Carolina Central University Mourns the Loss of A Champion of Civil Rights: "At NCCU, where he taught for nine years before he retired in 1985, he created a media/journalism curriculum, putting the English Department on the path to becoming the Department of English and Mass Communication that it is today. He served as a teacher and mentor to students and faculty, encouraging his colleagues to develop new courses.

“I was a colleague and also a student,” recalled Thomas Evans, assistant chair of the department. “I was an English teacher and he was the journalist. He retrained a couple of English teachers to be journalists — and he was a lot of fun to work with.”

Jim Buie on Mac Secrest as "The Leader of the Band."

Bruce Johnson, attorney in Michigan and NC: Mac Secrest was Unsung Hero of the Civil Rights Movement.

Mac Secrest's Self-Written Obituary

Slideshow, to the tune of Sinatra's "My Way" (audio is working now).

Mac Secrest, 1923-2010: A Life Well Lived from Jim Buie on Vimeo.

Family and friends held a memorial service for Saturday, May 22, 2010 at Carolina Meadows in Chapel Hill. In lieu of flowers, contributions could be made to a branch of the leukemia society. 

Reflections on God and the Afterlife Upon My Approaching Demise

I am not an athiest.  I don't have the conceit to think that I know.  I do not believe that all the laws of nature could conform so well, remain, and work in the way they do and be accidental.  There must have been a master design.  I do doubt, and I believe there is growing doubt, even among many ministers, that the fundamental belief that a heavenly father, much in our own image, lives in heaven and "with an eye on every sparrow, so I know he watches me."  God is quoted somewhere in the Bible, I believe, as saying  "My ways are not your ways," and again, "I am what I am," and doesn't really go beyond explaining Himself, and why should He?

If there is an afterlife, it is in some form of spiritual nature that no one really understands or perhaps is not intended to understand.  I suppose one should live the good life, or as best as one can, and the reward will be an appropriate one.  If one leads a horrible life, it becomes more difficult to know what to think, because life is not lived on a level playing field. Some people do have far greater advantages than others, and often people we consider and judge as monsters were victims, either through accidents of nature or through terrible nurture, over which they had no control.  

So, as I have trouble believing in the traditional heaven of the older Methodism in which I was raised, so do I have difficulty believing in a perpetural hell of fire and brimstone, as I can't see any just and loving God subjecting anyone to that.  And I am not so cynical as I know I often sound.  The purpose of life is a mystery so to play it safe, live the good life, as well described in parts of the Old Testament, and in my opinion, even more so in the New Testament.  But no one knows who wrote the Bible, and there are many versions and over the ages, much editing and revisionism.

I have said many times I believe in the good works of the pastoral church, but do question the philosophy of all religions when they become mixed up with politics, nationalism and ideology.  I believe true believers and born again Christians, whether self -deceptive or not, are happier than those who aren't.  I could never believe the way Catherine Jackson did, nor could one of her best friends, my sister Lil, but she became a better and happier person when she became born again...

"Coincidentally, Bob Seymour had a very thoughtful and pensive column in the Chapel Hill Herald about mortality and the constant reminders of it that one experiences in a continung care community and his own concern and cares and questions about it, including his own careful reading of the obit page daily. He and I have agreed that "providence" is one of our favorite words in respect to the great unknown.

"I might like to have a very brief contribution by all major religions who have congregations in this area:  Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddist, Ba'hai, Hindo...and Universalist--Unitarian, which I name because I have no idea who or what they believe..."

Mac Secrest's Self-written Obituary

Excerpts from Mac's email to Lucia Holliday Buie on March 14, 2010, approximately one month before he died. As he anticipated surgery to remove a cancerous tumor on his throat, he mocked his worrywart nature:

I have had a good time writing parodies of obits, most of which start, "So and so dies this week after a long, courageous fight with cancer." So I wrote one that read: 

"A. M Secrest, nearing 87, died this week after a long, cowardly, complaining battle with cancer. Secrest, from the moment he got the diagnosis, whined, complained, bitched and made life as miserable as possible for everyone. Never known as one who tried to make the best of a bad situation, but who loved to make the worst out of good ones, was so self-absorbed and obessive in his talk about his hard luck that people began to walk in the opposite direction as soon as they saw him come their way.

"Although his relatives might deny it, they too will be delighted when he has kicked the bucket, praying only that he has left some loot for them. 

"As my father used to say when he had indigestion and found relief in resounding farts, no matter when or where he was or who heard it, always shouted out, "Thank the Lord for that," so I imagine my famiy and friends when they finally get the "good news," will echo that exact expression."

Related:

• Anticipating Life-Threatening Surgery, He Went on a Shopping Spree for Unhealthy Foods
• In Selma, Alabama, 1965, Mac Secrest Helped Reduce Civil Rights Conflict...Often With Humor

Anticipating Life-threatening Surgery, He Went On a Shopping Spree for Unhealthy Foods

Mac Secrest at 86 wrote an email to his niece Lucia Holliday Buie as he anticipated surgery to remove a cancerous tumor:

My spirits are fine. I have lived on borrowed time for about 8 years. The present life expectancy for a male Caucasion born in 1923 is 78. But once one gets beyond certain dangers between 1923 and now, the life expectancy goes up and I think mine is between four and five years now, to about 90. But everyone agrees with me that now the quality of my life is more important than the quantity.

I like the young (well , everyone looks young to me these days) oncologist surgeon named Dr. Hackman who will do the surgery if that is the option I stick with. After I heard what seven weeks of radiation , five days a week, could do to you, I wonder why anyone would elect that option. It is quite likely that the radiation would rob one of sense of smell and taste and very likely could also make one lose the ability to swallow permanently. I don't envision spending the rest of my life with a tube up my nose and/or in my stomach through which i could be fed and kept alive.

The surgeon did say the surgery itself could do that, but if so, it's a very small chance and probably would not last longer than a couple of weeks. He has a nice sense of humor, for when I told him that if i were a surgeon I think I'd change my name from Hackman to Softman, or somethng that would not suggest I'd be hacked to death on the operating table. He said, well i might hack you up, you have to take me on faith if you chose the surgical option, which I think is the far better choice.

I replied that I would choose that option if he would guarantee that the operation would be unsuccessful and that i did indeed die on the operating table....

The surgery is set for March 30, which is the start of Passover, but as I told Molly, I had no intention of passing over to anywhere, not now anyhow, and passover to what? If I do, I'd better get religion in a hurry, just in case....I'm glad they did not set anything for March 15, for at least i do not have to Beware the Ides of March.

When I heard the March 30 date, I thought, good, that will give me a good chance to eat sensibly and get my clolesterol down and low sodium intake, etc. But had a sudden mood swing and went to H/T supermarket and trolled down one aisle and up another and spent $120.00 all on junk good: esp. dark chocolate candy bars, salty potato chips, Texas and Ciabatta bread with lot of cheese on top and a lot of different kinds of cheese to enjoy during happy hoour. Since wine burns my throat now, i have taken to drinking a lot of green tea, in either Scrapple or Lipton bottles, and i love the taste and its thin , stained body. It has lots of antioxidents in it so should be good for me and it sure does help get the bigger pills down easily.

Not Only Blogging, But Networking Socially

 I want to become the oldest person on Face Book, interact with all generations, and always act my age. I am interested in being 86, goiing on 90. Opinionative? Argumentative? Always but agreeably so. -- Facebook profile.

Thanks to all who have accepted me as a friend and who will help enrich my life as a recluse finding solace in virtual reality.

Despite some physical ailments, my interests and spirits remain high, I don't feel any older and nothing's the matter so far with memory or recall, in any time frame, so that's a lot to be thankful for.

Mac Secrest at Historic Moments (Photo Essay)

Like Forrest Gump, I just materialize from anywhere, don't I?

Facebook Profile

Basic Information 

Sex:

Male

Current City:

Chapel Hill, NC

Birthday:

September 15, 1923

Hometown:

Carolina Meadows, Chapel Hill N.C., Monroe, NC

Children:

David Secrest
Molly Secrest Katz 
Phil Secrest

Relationship Status:

Married

Interested In:

Friendship

Political Views:

Independent/Democrat

Religious Views:

World not accidental; agnostic

Likes and Interests

 

Activities:

Telling anecdotes.walking the dog, petting the cat, running errands,telling other people what to do and how to do it, reluctant housework and kitchen slavery, complaining a lot, feeling guilty when I do,counting my blessing and not feeling very appreciative.

Interests:

Music, reading, history, popular culture of my era..golden oldies are the 1930's, and '40's...animals, discussions, esp. when you agree with me.

Favorite Music:

Popular romantic music, big band era, standards and classics; classical music, operatic arias, tunes from stage and screen musicals of the Golden Era: 1940's, '50's and '60's; folk songs; protest songs. real music died about 40 years ago.

Favorite TV Shows:

cable talk shows, from left to right, pbs sometimes, animal planet, the weather, cable channels such as Nat'l Geographic, Nature, History,TCMovies; no contemporary situation comedies or continuing dramas. Time has a way of paying one back. Used to ridicule mother for watching Laurence Welk and now I do some myself.

Favorite Movies:

Don't see many, just repeats of older films. Did enjoy Notes on A Scandal, Marley and Me, the Virginia wolfe one of some years back.

Favorite Books:

recent biography of Einstein, one on Hitler, The Nine(Supreme Court study); several historical biographies and related histories of WW 2 leaders, especially Winston Churchill, FDR, Truman, Ike and the like.

Favorite Quotations:

Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof;
Sweet are the uses of adversity...
For everything there is a season...a time to cry and a time to laugh; a time to sow and a time to reap; a time to live and a time to die (paraphrased)

This above all, to thine own self be true, for then thou cannot be false to any man(paraphrased again)

Never mistreat your enemies by half.

Do unto others as they would have you do unto them 
(slight revision of the Golden Rule)

About Me:

Journalist, writer, professor; civil rights worker in the 1950 and 60's; worked for Justice Dep't. in Selma , Alabama, in 1965, with Martin Luther King, Jr. and George Wallace amd Al lingo, among many, many others.Mostly just a family man whose greatest joys have been my wife, three childrren five grandchildlren, and eight nieces and nephews and now great nieces and nephews and now some great, great ones. Also my own immediate familly, my deceased parents, my two older sisters, and many wonderful aunts , uncles and cousins. Loved them all, tho we are, generally speaking, a rather curious lot.

Contact Information

 

Email:

amsecrest@nc.rr.com

http://don't
http://have
http://one

Education and Work

 

Colleges:

• Duke University '44
• ph.d in 1972, history, political science, economics

• Harvard University, Nieman Fellow '60
• History, journalists

High School:

• Walter Bickett High School,Monroe,n.c. '40

 

 

Employer:

university of north carolina at chapel hill

Position:

associate professor of journalism

Description:

also professor of english t NCCU, Durham, N.C.

Photos from Induction into NC Journalism Hall of Fame.

90 is the New 60.

5 Generations at Riverton, NC.

Maybe, Mac, You Will Be Surprised

Jim Buie wrote Mac Secrest: "I think/hope you are going to be surprised not only by the number of people whose lives you have touched, and continue to touch, but also by the significance of your life. Do you know the poem by William Wordsworth, "Surprised by Joy -- Impatient as the Wind"? I'm sure you do.

Surprised by joy — Impatient as the Wind

I turned to share the transport--Oh! with whom

But Thee, deep buried in the silent tomb,

That spot which no vicissitude can find?

Love, faithful love, recalled thee to my mind--

But how could I forget thee? Through what power,

Even for the least division of an hour,

Have I been so beguiled as to be blind

To my most grievous loss?--That thought's return

Was the worst pang that sorrow ever bore, 

Save one, one only, when I stood forlorn,

Knowing my heart's best treasure was no more;

That neither present time, nor years unborn

Could to my sight that heavenly face restore. 

Mac replied: "That is a lovely poem by Wordsworth.  We visited his home and burial site in the lake country of northern england in 1983.  It would be very good of you to read it at a service, if there is one. As I said earlier, services really are for the living and it is for them to decide...

Related:

• Reflections on God and the Afterlife Upon My Approaching Demise, by Mac Secrest

Ominous and Significant Weight Loss, Existential Angst. Thoughts of Visiting Dr. Kevorkian

When Mac's nephew Jim Buie left the U.S. in September, 2009 for a year in Turkey, Mac's last words to him were, "See you in the next life," and he told Jim's wife Lucia, "I'm proud to have known you."

In emails a few weeks later, Mac wrote: "I lose a pound a day despite force feeding myself. Down to 150 now, just a month after leaving the hospital for hernia repair at 164. I have serious doubts as to whether I'll last even as long as Ann's 90th birthday celebration Oct. 24, 2009, so the instruction is to have it regardless, and no services of any kind for me.  Just a birth and death date and name on (son) Phil's tombstone in Monroe and ashes scattered around. No pay for anything."

This was followed by emails blustering about visiting Dr. Kevorkian or a clinic in Oregon, or Switzerland, where physician-assisted suicide is legal. "I do think it is best for people when the time comes to go quickly, but we cannot control that.  At some point, when there is no longer even human dignity, just a breathing body still hanging on, it is best to have euthanesia. We are far kinder in that regard to our animals than we are to ourselves," Mac wrote.

This morose talk upset Jim and Lucia. She wrote Mac: "Oh, alright, go on if you have to and take you light with you. I can never believe the freedom with which you say anything that has roiled the gray cells under that bald pate of yours. How were you born with such a sense of liberty? I do love you, miss and will miss your refusal to ignore any take on any subject. I hope that when I am your age, I will be as alive and ageless as you have been. How lucky I have been to know you."

Jim replied to Mac: "I think you are clinically depressed, or experiencing existential angst, or at the very least a denial of the significance of your demise to those who have known you...Your instructions are to just put your name on a stone shared by your son Phil, forget about your death, and get on with life?Yeah, right. You are going to impose on your loved ones the idea that your life is not worth celebrating, that there is emphatically no spirit that survives death, and that your passing should be marked only by the shrug of a shoulder and an "oh well, he was old...what's for dinner?" 

"I suspect if you were motivated, or if your doctors were clueful, there would be medications you could take to stimulate appetite, and that, in turn, would improve your emotional state."

Mac, in response, acknowledged that he was "a little depressed," though not clinically, mostly "discouraged and a little anxious." He was thinking realistically about the future, he said. "People do get older and become more feeble and can't do what they once could, or even want to, but that is inevitable. I can see changes, distraction, forgetfulness, and poor driving in myself.  But I try to find compensations for it."