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Americans show spirit time and again Richard L. Connor Opinion

Sunday January 31, 2010 | 12:00 AM

Richard L. Connor rconnor@timesleader.com

WHEN PRESIDENT OBAMA concluded his State of the Union speech last Wednesday evening, he hit a high note of optimism and pluck.

Pluck?

Sure. Pluck.

He said he awakens each day hopeful and ready to fight. It’s the American way. Can anyone really disagree with this notion?

Many in this country – including, I am certain, Obama – wake up every morning imprinted with the idea that our country is made up of volunteers and givers. We are in Haiti and those of us who are not there make donations. There is no country in the world that reaches out as we do.

The president spoke of our nation’s “spirit of determination and optimism – that fundamental decency that has always been at the core of the American people.” That spirit and decency, he said, has shown itself again in the country’s reaction to the earthquake in Haiti.

“It lives on in the 8-year-old boy in Louisiana, who just sent me his allowance and asked if I would give it to the people of Haiti,” Obama said. “And it lives on in all the Americans who’ve dropped everything to go some place they’ve never been and pull people they’ve never known from rubble, prompting chants of ‘USA! USA! USA!’ when another life was saved.”

Like the young boy who donated his allowance to help people who are suffering in a place far from where he lives, our 9-year-old daughter, Meredith, has embraced the American spirit of giving. Her mother and I take no credit for it. Imprinting is what I believe governs her manners and her sense of caring.

It’s an inclination we have seen before, and it surfaced this time after she won a $10 gift certificate to an office supply store – how, I am not certain. She relished “winning,” but I believe she imagined the gift certificate was for toys.

When she arrived at the office supply store, she was not discouraged. Assessing her options for purchases to redeem the gift certificate, she made a quick decision. She bought material to make a box. And then markers, followed by decals. Tape was purchased.

“I’m going to build something to help the children of Haiti,” she said.

And she did.

She built a box. She put the Red Cross insignia on it, and then some words asking for donations and help.

She took it to school and was amazed at the response from her friends and classmates.

They immediately began emptying their pockets.

“One boy put in a dollar,” she told me.

She was asked to explain her box and her plea for donations to a school assembly. She stood up in front of everyone and told them what she was doing.

Contents of the box grew and continue to grow. A retailer and advertiser responded to my pride in telling this story and gave me $20.

“Tell her it’s for Meredith’s box,” the businesswoman said.

Receiving it, Meredith made a joke about doubling the money on her gift certificate and then carefully folded the $20 for her Haiti relief box.

This is not about Meredith, and it certainly is not about our parenting skills or lack of them. It is about a nation of givers.

These are tough and confusing times. We have problems at home and enemies abroad who want to attack us. We have politicians drawing ideological swords. We have partisan bickering.

Through it all, we also have that indomitable American spirit the president cited in his speech. Yes, we get down but we always rise up to meet challenges. If nothing else, this is the message of hope and determination – of pluck – that we need from our leaders when it seems the odds are stacked overwhelmingly against us.

President Obama reminded us that Americans have never been afraid “to do what was hard; to do what was needed even when success was uncertain; to do what it took to keep the dream of this nation alive for their children and grandchildren.”

The relentless vitality of the American spirit came through loud and clear in the president’s speech, and it comes through every day in the bright-eyed generosity and optimism of young Americans such as Meredith and the allowance-sharing 8-year-old in Louisiana.

About the Author

Richard L. Connor is Editor and Publisher of the Times Leader and president of Wilkes-Barre Publishing Company.

Richard L. Connor is Editor and Publisher of The Times Leader. Mr. Connor’s career in the newspaper business spans nearly 40 years in four states and in a variety of positions including editor, publisher and owner.

In June of 2006, Mr. Connor formed The Wilkes-Barre Publishing Company, purchased The Times Leader and returned to the post he previously held from 1978 to 1986.

He has worked for several media companies, including 25 years as an executive with Capital Cities Communications, later Cap Cities/ABC and then the Walt Disney Company. During that time he served for over 10 years as President and Publisher of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Fort Worth, TX.

His work to have his newspapers not only serve the community as a voice of needed change but also to build bridges among its leaders and diverse forces has been recognized constantly for its unique brand of media leadership. He has won numerous awards as a columnist and for his editorials and has received a number of awards for his newspaper and community leadership and achievement. He has served on numerous community and industry boards, including two times as a member of the Pulitzer Prize Nominating Committee.

He resides in the Back Mountain with his wife, Deborah, and daughter, Meredith. Mr. Connor also has two adult children.