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ChipThompson, Editor How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: Daily News 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Thisisyetanotheropinioncolumnofa personal nature. However, it also addresses racism, about which I have learned a great deal over the last fi een years. Asyouknow,onedoesnot get to chose their parents. My father, Edward Henry Statham, was born in 1889 in the province of Surrey just south- west of London, England. He died in the 1960s and ended a relatively unhappy life. He first met my mother when he moved to America and was selling Fuller Brushes. He went door to door to sell them in Salt Lake City, Utah in the early 1930s. Interestingly, he never be- came an America citizen even though he lived in the United States for at least forty years. Today, he would be a docu- mented immigrant. I believe, like most human beings, he probably meant well. But, I think he created most of his own serious per- sonal challenges. When my father moved to Chico he was selling cars for a dealership located near Main and Broadway streets. I learned, while I was still going through grammar school, that he was a racist. I have two good examples of that. Long ago I asked a young black student to play with me for a while at the end of a school day. He did and we had fun. Later that afternoon when my dad arrive home af- ter work, he strongly admon- ished me for allowing that lit- tle kid to come into "our" kitchen and drink some water out of "our" glasses. I can still remember his words today. He said; "Sonny, those are the glasses we use." It felt wrong to me then, but because he was a strong fa- ther I was too afraid to ques- tion him about why he said that. The second big example of his racism was about the great singer Nat King Cole, who died in Santa Monica at only 46 years old. When tele- vision was still black and white NBC gave Mr. Cole a fif- teen minute program to host each Monday night. That was in 1956 when I was in my late teens. I can still recall dad telling my mother; "Why are you watching that man. He is so black." I wish my dad was still alive, because I would con- front him man to man and talk about all that has hap- pened in America. I know he would have been stunned and outraged by the 2008 election of our 44th President Barack Hussein Obama. When I look back at the growing up that I and my two brothers experienced, it is not always with fond memories. I have also learned that former President Obama's life grow- ing up was not always pleas- ant. He actually had a biolog- ical father and two step fa- thers. My father was often used by our mother as an authority fig- ure with whom we would have to reckon if she thought we boys did anything wrong. My father's direction was never to be questioned. No one gets to pick their parents, but I suppose you should thank them from time to time. If it was not for them we would not even ex- ist. Please share any parental experiences you had with me, unless you feel it is too per- sonal. Mytakeonthemovies "Get Out" is a five star hor- ror film. It stars British actor and writer Daniel Kaluuya and Al- lison Williams from HBO's "Girls." See this movie if you don't mind waiting for something bad to happen. StanStathamserved1976-1994 in the California Assembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965-1975. He is past president of the California Broadcasters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@ gmail.com. StanStatham My take on parents Later that afternoon when my dad arrive home after work, he strongly admonished me for allowing that little kid to come into "our" kitchen and drink some water out of "our" glasses. Cartoonist's take "It takes a special breed to be a truck drivin' man, and a steady hand to pull the load behind," Merle Haggard. In my day job as a warehouse worker, I get to chat with quite a few short-haul and long-haul truckers, so I was genuinely dis- turbed by the March 3 Wall Street Journal story "On The Road To Self-Driving Trucks." Freight-hauling firms are struggling to find drivers (in 2015, American Trucking Asso- ciations estimated that for-hire trucking companies had nearly 50,000 fewer drivers than they had positions for), and safety regulations governing working hours are squeezing profits, so engineers and CEOs have been brainstorming ways to design, perfect and popularize "auton- omous vehicles." It's no surprise that shipping magnates are interested in ar- tificial intelligence; they've long been masters of artificial emotion. ("It really breaks my heart that I can't pay the driv- ers more and give them less grueling schedules. I adore those guys for bringing me my Rolexes and caviar...caviar... caviar...Yikes! The crocodile tears have shorted out the cir- cuit!") The move toward "owner- operators" has been much bal- lyhooed, but it puts an unsus- tainable debt on many starry- eyed drivers. You have to pay off the loan on the tractor- trailer rig, purchase a time share in picturesque Lower Slobbovia, buy the extended warranty on the ashtray... Sure, nothing is certain ex- cept change. Progress and effi- ciency occupy a pedestal. In a world where most people claim to value "minding your own business," some individuals de- cide that their business is put- ting other people out of busi- ness. We're lectured that man- kind is immeasurably bet- ter off without stokers shov- eling coal for steam locomo- tives or rows of switchboard operators manually connect- ing calls; but surely there's still room for those rugged indi- vidualists popularized by TV's "B.J. and the Bear" ("Rollin' down to Dallas/My wheels pro- vide my palace..."), the silver screen's "Smokey and the Ban- dit" ("East bound and down/ Loaded up and truckin'...") or the radio's "Convoy" ("Come on and join our convoy/Ain't nothin' gonna get in our way..."). True, advocates of robotic drivers can point to elimina- tion of human error; but such gains may be illusory. ("Hi. I was programmed by a human who was either nursing a Mon- day hangover or rushing to start the weekend by midday on Friday.") The economic windfall for trucking conglomerates might be short-lived. One pundit has pointed out that since the ro- bots replacing humans in fac- tories and elsewhere aren't paying income tax, Social Se- curity, property tax or sales tax, the government will even- tually have to reconfigure things to keep the economy from collapsing. (They will probably also do something for all the out-of-work truck stop waitresses toting "Will call you honey and darlin' for food" signs.) Taking the human element out of driving would desecrate the trucking songs of Red So- vine, such as the heart-warm- ing "Teddy Bear." (A disabled little boy loses his trucker fa- ther in an accident, shares his story on the CB radio and is befriended by a whole con- voy of truckers.)In the future the pleas of Teddy Bear might be met with "Suck it up, lit- tle lump of flesh. Nobody shed any tears when my cousin the microwave got tossed in the Dumpster prematurely." It is my sincerest hope that some equitable balance can be struck between automation and flesh-and-blood drivers. Quoting Red Sovine, "I'll sign off now, before I start to cry/May God ride with you, 10-4 and goodbye." Danny Tyree welcomes email responses at tyreetyrades@aol. com and visits to his Facebook fan page Tyree's Tyrades. Danny Tyree Will the nation's truckers be replaced by robots? Another view Like a lot of you, I'm a pretty avid reader. But as I get older, it seems to get harder and harder to find a good book. The fact that I no longer have what al- ways seemed to be an unlim- ited amount of time left to read is certainly a fac- tor. I'm won't give an author the benefit of a doubt if I'm not hooked in the first 50 pages. The book doesn't have to be a page turner — but reading it should at least be an enjoyable experience. Non-fiction isn't always an easy read, but it's the inter- est in the subject matter that is paramount. It may require more effort than fiction, but the knowledge gained about some- thing interesting can be exhil- arating. I remember driving every- one crazy when I discovered Hemingway. I happened upon a book entitled, The Crook Fac- tory. I wondered whether its account of "Papa's" exploits in Cuba were true. I quickly dis- covered that they were — and I was off. I read every book I could find about Hemingway in my quest to learn all about his life. Folks usually get inter- ested in authors only after hav- ing read their books. But I did it backwards, learning about Hemingway first, and then reading his novels and short stories. This quest monopolized much of my reading over the next few years. I watched documentaries as well as every movie made from his books. My thirst for infor- mation was insatiable. And all this started after having read just one book. Seeking to recreate these experiences explains why a search for the right book seems more like a search for the Holy Grail than a simple trip to the library. We're all familiar with TV "binge" watching, where one can spend days watching every episode of a newly dis- covered series. It's the same with authors. Once you find a voice that speaks to you, then you abso- lutely must read everything that author has written. If you're lucky — they've written a lot of books. But eventually there will come that sense of loss experienced once you turn the final page of that last book. I remember discovering Robert Heinlein as a kid, and checking out book after book until I had read everything he had ever written. I understand the excitement of Harry Pot- ter fans, as well as those who anxiously await the next sea- son (or volume) of "The Game of Thrones." But how do we find that next captivating book? There are book lists out there, but they don't work for me. The read- ing experience is an intensely personal one, and a book's in- terest is specific to the individ- ual. Many of the "great" books, when being read on our own and not part of a class, are of- ten quite ponderous. While I'm embarrassed by the number of great books I've not read, when I pick up one today, I soon realize as my eyes glaze over that being able to say that I've read it just doesn't justify the expenditure of my time. Besides, these days I don't seem to remember that much anyway. Friends can be a source of recommendations. A buddy loved "The Presidents Club" I had mentioned to him. The best place for me is often the "new book" section at the local library. Occasionally you'll hit pay dirt. I remember becoming a mini-expert on drone warfare after reading a book I found there. If anyone has some other useful sources for finding a great read, or have a truly life changing book to recommend, please let me know. Corky Pickering and his wife relocated from the Bay Area to Cottonwood in 2014. He recently retired from the federal government as an attorney advising law enforcement. He has been a rock and roll bass player and a Marine JAG. He can be reached at thecork6@gmail.com. Finding good books can be hard Corky Pickering Danny Tyree Stan Statham It's the same with authors. Once you find a voice that speaks to you, then you absolutely must read everything that author has written. If you're lucky — they've written a lot of books. But eventually there will come that sense of loss experienced once you turn the final page of that last book. OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, March 16, 2017 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4