Editorial April 2, 1990 Issue

Rumors and sandcastles

William E. Moody

Years ago I was living in a city that faced the threat of an oncoming hurricane late in the summer. As the big storm headed north across the Gulf of Mexico, the mayor of the city and other officials set up headquarters in the main civil defense shelter. Their intention was to direct preparations and keep the citizens informed from a secure, central location where weather reports and city services could be closely monitored.

This was all very sobering business of course. But our mayor, who was well known for his malapropisms and ingenuous turns of phrase, managed a memorable line on one of the evening television broadcasts that people in the community still fondly recall some thirty years later.

During the afternoon and early evening, there had been a lot of false information being spread around about the storm's location, available food supplies, and so on. So the mayor encouraged people not to be anxious or to overreact on the basis of unfounded reports. Then, in total seriousness, he concluded, "Don't believe any false rumors unless they come from me!"

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