Article December 7, 1981 Issue

"I am not like that!"

EVERETT LINUS PURCELL

It was the voice of a mature man. His tone was vehement, distressed. He was alone in a room and spoke to himself.

A strong will was commonly considered an asset to character in the young community where he was reared. His mother saw no reason why a woman's will should not be as strong as anyone's, including her husband's. So despite the abundant love shown him by both parents, he was the unhappy witness from earliest childhood to frequent clashes of their wills.

Later, as a young man, he found himself in the family business with his widowed mother. Confrontation, not consultation, still characterized her approach to problems. The son recognized her many fine qualities, including love for him. He was learning the business, however, "from the top down" in the midst of economic recession and fundamental changes in mobility of a rural population. He felt he was kept off balance by an ever-critical partner who, nevertheless, held him fully accountable for restoring the enterprise.

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