Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 8B PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. MAY 13. 2004
They Touched Me . . .
Ted Turner
By Wayne Smith
I knew him before he became
Ted Turner. Now nearly everybody
in the world knows of him: winner
of the America’s Cup yacht race;
billboard advertising owner;
founder of “the Super Station;’’ the
visionary who conceived and
launched the Cable News Network
(CNN); owner of the Atlanta
Braves and Atlanta Hawks profes
sional sports teams; philanthropist
donor of a one billion dollar gift to
the United Nations; and much,
much more.
Ted Turner really does have a
sign on his desk that says, “Either
lead, follow or get out of the way.’’
Controversial? Yes. Plain spo
ken? My goodness, yes! Hedonist?
At times. Atheistic Communist?
Neither. Once Ted was quoted in
the newspapers has having said,
“Christianity is a religion for los
ers.”
When I read this I contacted him
and congratulated him on his astute
and accurate observation. “Ted,” I
said, “You are correct. Christianity
is a religion for losers. Welcome to
the club, for we all are losers with
out God.”
Once Ted asked me to be his
guest and sit with him in the
owner’s box at an April opening
game of the Atlanta Braves. Before
the game he held a press confer
ence for the sports writers. When
he noticed that it was getting
cloudy and appeared that it might
rain, Ted turned his gaze from the
window that overlooked the stadi
um and said some salty words to
the journalists.
Then his eyes fell on me in the
front row. He cringed and said, “I
guess I shouldn’t have used that
language with ‘my preacher’ pres
ent. Some people think that I don’t
believe in God. But I do. Hell, I
believe in the Ten Commandments,
too, .. .and I practice all but three of
them.”
Visiting Ted at his office, which
I try to do a couple of times a year,
is an experience I wish everyone
could have. It is like visiting the
den of a lion. Ted Turner is the king
of his jungle. The visit begins after
he gives me a hug around the neck
and asks me to have a seat. Then
he asks me if I want coffee or a
Coke and calls out the request to
his secretary.
His fertile mind, which runs on
at least four tracks at the same time,
is fixed on my question to him of
“How are things going with you
and God?” Not many people know
it but there was a time in his life
that he considered being a mission
ary. He has committed a great deal
of the Bible to memory and is very
conversant with matters of faith.
Then, without stopping that con
versation he jumps up and starts
another one: “Have a look at this,”
he says as he shows me a photo
graph of himself taken while duck
hunting with Fidel Castro in Cuba.
Then he opens a third topic, ask
ing if I have a video of Martin
Luther King’s “I Have a Dream”
speech. He puts it on his VCR and
now we are discussing three sub
jects. As Dr. King’s speech is play
ing, the lion stalks around his spa
cious office. He is the king of his
lair, sniffing here and sniffing there
as he comments about the many
trophies that line his wall and book
cases. Incredible as it seems, with
all of this going on he still is 100
percent on track with our initial
conversation and responds to my
first question as he discourses on
the other subjects he has introduced
during our visit.
In 1975 I took a leave of
absence from the pastoral ministry
for two years. During that time I
was “Chaplain in Residence” with
Cousins Properties. Tom Cousins*,
the person whom I admire more
than any living human being, asked
me to join his company on a tem
porary basis. He thought that I
could become a better minister if I
had a taste of working in the busi
ness world.
However, my responsibilities
were not to be only those of coun
seling with the several hundred
employees that Cousins Properties
had at the time. I was also assigned
to be the Vice President of the
Omni Coliseum for Marketing,
Promotions, and Personnel. In this
capacity one assignment was to
oversee the sale of the television
rights of the Atlanta Hawks basket
ball team and the Atlanta Flames
hockey team.
Tom owned the teams and the
Omni at that time.
Ted Turner’s “Super Station”
purchased these rights. He and I got
to know each other over the negoti
ating table. During these negotia
tions he was consistently honest,
fair, and to the point.
In late 1977 I arranged for
Muhammad Ali to come to Atlanta
to do a benefit performance on
behalf of The Friendship Force.
Thinking of how best to use this
chance to raise additional funds for
this new non-profit organization, I
had an idea. Ted had recently won
the prestigious America’s Cup. He
had bought the Atlanta Braves
baseball team. He was cranking up
to launch CNN.
Ted Turner was becoming a
household name in a hurry. The
Oscar winning movie, “Rocky”
was showing in theaters at the time
that Ali was to put on his exhibition
in Atlanta. I told Tom Cousins
about my idea and he agreed to go
with me to see Ted. I didn’t want to
face him alone with the proposal I
had in mind.
When we were seated in front of
Ted’s desk, I said,“Ted, you are
famous now. You are winning on
many different fronts. Reporters are
calling you ‘the Mouth of the
South’. As a ‘spoof’ I would like
for you to announce that you have
been inspired by the movie,
‘Rocky’ and have decided to go
into training to fight Muhammad
Ali for the heavyweight champi
onship of the world. You can put on
your jogging suit, run up the steps
of the state capitol building, go to a
meat packing factory and punch
some sides of beef, and really ‘ham
it up’ as you publicize your training
on your television station.
"Then you can issue an 'in your
face' challenge to Ali that you want
a piece of him.” I told Ted that I
had checked with Ali and that “the
Champ” was ready to participate in
such a choreographed stunt. If Ted
was willing to do it, Ali was willing
to allow Ted to fight him to a draw.
At the end of the bout both men
would fall to the canvass unable to
rise. Ali would retain his champi
onship, since Ted had fought well
but had failed to defeat him.
For the only time that I can
recall in all of my visits with Ted
Turner he was absolutely speech
less. He looked at Tom. He looked
at me. I guess he thought we were
both crazy. He shook his head from
side to side, shot out of his chair,
and ordered us out of his office. As
we left laughing we heard Ted say,
“You guys are trying to get me
killed!”
Once I visited Ted a few days
before Christmas. Shortly before
this I had been in Tbilisi, Georgia
(USSR). While there, knowing that
I had an appointment with Ted in a
few days, I bought him a Christmas
present. It was a very fancy jewel-
handled ceremonial twelve-inch
knife.
When I gave it to “the lion king”
I mentioned that even though it was
a Christmas gift he would have to
pay me for it. Sharp as a razor he
replied, “Then it must be something
with a cutting edge to it. You don’t
want to ‘cut our friendship’.”
He tore the wrapping paper
away and was truly happy with
what I had brought him. Then he
began to search through his pants’
pockets. I told him that a penny
would be plenty. He didn’t have a
penny. Nor did he have a nickel,
quarter, half dollar or any paper
currency of any denomination on
him. I told him that I couldn’t
process a credit card.
“Dee,” he called to his wonder
fully efficient secretary, Dee
Woods, “Have you got any money
on you?” Dee didn’t. She couldn’t
find even a cent in her or Ted’s
office. Then Ted said to me, “Wait
a minute.” He opened a door in his
desk and found something. He
walked over to me with a big smile
and gave me a one ounce gold
Kugerrand. Gold at that time was
selling for about $450 an ounce and
a Kugerrand had a premium value
over that.
“Ted, I can’t take this,” I told
him. “Yes, you can,” he said. “You
don’t know the value of your gift to
me. Just the fact that you were
thinking about me while you were
thousands of miles away means
more to me than I have the means
to pay.” I took the gold coin and
thanked him for his generosity.
Later I wrote him a letter and told
him that I had taken the coin to a
jeweler and had a collar put around
it so that my wife could wear it as a
necklace.
In my letter I also wrote that his
generosity had made me think that
there was something I should do,
too. I let him know that his “pur
chase” had inspired me to send a
donation of $500 to the Boldrini
Children’s Hospital in Brazil. A few
days later a letter came from Ted.
He wanted the name and address of
that children’s hospital that treats
thousands of poor children each
year without charging anything. He
wanted to send the hospital a dona
tion of $10,000. He wasn’t going to
allow me to be more generous than
he.
I’m glad that I did not try to
match Ted in ever-escalating (ges
tures of philanthropy. Later on he
gave a billion dollars to the United
Nations.
Ted Turner is a multi-faced man.
When I think of him these are some
of the words that come to mind:
genius, creative, sensitive, brash,
leader, humanitarian, innovator,
complex, energetic, intelligent, and
spiritual.
Yes, spiritual. There is a great
battle going on within the soul of
this good man. He has suffered
much, and he has succeeded much.
It bothers him that he can’t figure
out why God allows bad things to
happen to good people. He does not
consider himself necessarily to be
one of those good people. He
would be the first to tell you that he
is no paragon of virtue.
But wars, poverty, the haunting
specter of nuclear holocaust, and
the evil that he sees throughout the
world make him wonder about
God. But, I am one guy he has not
been able to fool. I am convinced
that God has allowed me to have a
peek deep into the heart of Ted
Turner. What I see there is a man
who has been made in the image of
God and has been endowed with
many extraordinary talents. Never
theless, I see in Ted a man who is
struggling with the deepest issues
of life.
As Popeye said, “I ‘yam what I
‘yam.” Ted is honest and makes no
pretense of being someone he is
not. He refuses to mouth the shib
boleths that many want him to say.
But when he does speak, he has
something to say, as outrageous as
it may sound at the time.
Ted Turner. He touched me.
From him I have learned the mean
ing of what it means to struggle, to
win, to lose, and to get up when
you have been knocked to the can
vass and (keep) confront the chal
lenges of life with renewed
strength.
[Editor’s Note: The Rev. Wayne
Smith, a Big Canoe resident, is the
founder of The Friendship
Force,which today boasts 350
chapters in 60 countries. Among
his notable accomplishments and
awards was being nominated for
the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992.
Locally, Smith is active in the com
munity in many facets, including
serving on the staff of the Big
Canoe Chapel.
Smith is currently working on an
autobiography which will appear
as a series in the Progress titled
They Touched Me. The previous
installments of the series are avail
able at www.pickensprogress.com]
HOW TO SELL OR
BUY A BUSINESS
PLEASE MAKE PLANS TO ATTEND NPG
BROKERS, LLC FIRST ANNUAL SEMINAR
This year’s seminar will be for sellers or buyers, NPG Brokers
and other respected business area professionals will walk you
through each step of the business sale and acquisition process.
The seminar will be held on Tuesday, May 18th at 6:30 P.M. at
the Pickens County Chamber of Commerce in Jasper, Georgia.
This seminar is being provided to the local community by NPG
Brokers at no charge for each attendee, so please RSVP early to
insure you have a reserved seat. Refreshments provided.
Please RSVP to:
Cynthia Hoover
NPG Brokers
706.253.6197
Bring us your mercury fever
thermometer and we’ll give you
a FREE Geratherm
digital thermometer.
Mercury is very toxic and remains in the
environment for long periods of time.
Even the small amount of mercury in a
fever thermometer can cause short-term
health problems if the thermometer is
broken and the vapors are inhaled.
Several drug store chains have recently
stopped selling mercury fever
thermometers, however many people still
have them in their homes. Make your
home a safer place by letting us recycle
your mercury fever thermometers. This
issue is so important to us that we will
give you a high quality, Geratherm®
digital thermometer free (limit one per
household).
IMPORTANT PACKING
INSTRUCTIONS:
To safely transport the mercury
thermometer to us intact, place it
in an air tight, hard plastic
container. The case it was sold in
makes an excellent transport
container. If you do not have the
original case, alternative
containers include Tupperware
with lid, 20 oz. plastic soft drink
bottles with screw top lid,
and toothbrush cases. Plastic
bags alone are not recommended.
Exchange Your Mercury
Fever Thermometer for
A Digital Thermometer
At The Health Fair On
May 15 th * Keep Pickens
Beautiful Reminds You
To Prevent Litter,
Recycle, and Properly
Dispose of Scrap Tires.
For More Information
Contact:
KEEP PICKENS BEAUTIFUL
AT 706-253-3600
Digital thermometers funded by the Georgia Pollution Prevention Assistance Division,
made possible by a grant from the U.S. EPA
Care For Your Stomach*
That's Easy To Swallow
‘And other problems or pains of the digestive tract.
Digestive care specialist Karim Gani, MD,
offers treatment for:
^Gallbladder disease ^Swallowing disorders
*Ulcer disease including bacterial stomach infections
^Heartburn *Food intolerances *Diarrhea *Constipation
*Diverticulosis *Hemmorhoids
*Colon Polyps *Liver disease
Karim Gani, MD
Canton & Woodstock 770-704-9499
Jasper 706-692-9016
Dr. Karim Gani
1^
fji
Advanced Surgery
Center Of Georgia
JtfpnauJvjitfi
MH
NORTHSIDE HOSPITAL - CHEROKEE 028-095
If you’re over 50, have you had your colonoscopy yet£