[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 20107]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                         TRIBUTE TO DEAN STONE

 Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, today marks the 84th birthday of 
Dean Stone, who has lived in my hometown of Maryville, TN, his entire 
life. This year also marks the 125th anniversary of The Daily Times, 
Maryville's hometown newspaper where Dean has worked for the last half 
century.
  I extend my warmest wishes to both of these Maryville institutions, 
and ask that a letter I wrote to Dean be printed in the Record.
  The material follows.

                                               September 10, 2008.
     Mr. Dean Stone,
     The Daily Times,
     Maryville, Tennessee.
       Dear Dean, It is an especially good idea to celebrate your 
     birthday and that of The Daily Times all at once, because for 
     me, and I am sure for most Blount Countians, it is hard to 
     separate the two.
       That was true when I was a Maryville High School student 
     years ago and you hired me to contribute to the Times' school 
     news page.
       But it is even more true today because for the last half 
     century I have so much enjoyed your photographs, your 
     stories, and your opinions about Blount County. No one has 
     ever done a better or more complete job of covering our 
     families and communities.
       Years from now, when anyone looks back to try to understand 
     Blount County--its history, its people, and its mountains--
     the first place to go will be to a Dean Stone photograph of 
     Cades Cove, or ``Bits of stone'' about some family, or a 
     carefully reasoned editorial about why we should think now 
     about what our county's landscape will look like later.
       Happy birthday, Dean--and Maryville-Alcoa's The Daily 
     Times--from a grateful former paperboy and school news 
     correspondent.
           Sincerely,
                                                  Lamar Alexander,
     U.S. Senator.

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