Sunday, December 19, 2004

More than one Earl Butz...

Those who have read Jane Smiley's novel that inspired the title of this blog know that a main "character" is a large pig whose care occupies many an agriculture professor, staff member, and student, and who stands as a central motif in the novel. The pig's name is Earl Butz.

The REAL Earl Butz, a retired ag econ professor and Nixon and Ford's ag secretary, lives 2 blocks away from me in a retirement community. He still goes to an office on campus (he is 94 or 95) and I hear he said that he found his cane useful to smite any Clinton Democrats who came near him! hahahahaha....