The day I didn't stand my ground

John Railey
Winston-Salem Journal
May 3, 2014



If John Railey had been carrying his shotgun that day, he might not have made it to his high-school graduation

After the two men knocked me in the river I treaded water, asking the one still standing there what they were going to do.
“My brother’s gone to the truck to get a gun and we’re going to kill you,” he said.
Somewhere in my fear I thought to myself: I picked a hell of a day to leave my shotgun at home.
As America continues to wrestle with questions over Florida’s stand-your-ground law and questions over gun violence in general, I often think of what happened to me that afternoon in April 1978 in my rural Virginia hometown when I was a junior in high school.
I had been getting ready to go fishing on the Nottoway River, leaving from a landing less than a half-mile from my house. I kept my canoe chained at the landing. I stood near the boat, digging some fishing worms.
A young woman barely older than me was leaning on an old pickup truck parked at the landing. She asked me what I was doing. Digging worms, I said. She made some other small talk. I was just trying to get going with the fishing.
I finished up, put the worms in a plastic container and headed for my canoe.

That’s when I saw the two men.
They’d just pulled their boat up. They walked toward me, each lugging heavy oars across their shoulders. They were shirtless, older than me and taller than me. I knew most folks who used that landing but I’d never seen these guys before. One of them said, You were talking to my girlfriend.
She just asked me about digging worms, I said. I’m just trying to go fishing.
The two men weren’t buying it. One of them pushed his long hair out of his eyes. He looked like he’d ingested something that had taken him to a mean and lonely place.
We talked in circles for another minute or so, with both men accusing me of trying to pick up the girl and me denying it.
Then the strange-eyed one just raised his big oar behind him and swung it hard toward me. I’m not real coordinated but he wasn’t real sober, so I somehow had time to reflexively cover my face with my forearms and ease the blow.

<<<<<P R E P A R E - The Spring contest is coming soon.>>>>>

Even though I did not place in the finals in the contest for "Winter" I accepted the challenge to be in charge of the contest for "Spring".

The Winner Mth44sc and I made a deal. If I take over for him, then some of his photographic skills will be transferred to me by osmosis.
What could possibly go wrong?

Here, to remind you, is his winning photograph

Winter Carolina


The Spring contest starts June 1.
I'm going to give you this heads up early since I have to be concise and tight with the scheduling due to some other commitments.

We will open for submissions on the 24th of May, but you can send me photos beforehand, I will hold them.
It will not be a hidden name contest.

We will start the contest on the 1st of June and the finals thereafter.

We should be done with it by about the 10th or so - which is in all probability the time the June regular month contest gets good and going.

Since this Spring is pretty late in showing itself, at least in my neck of the woods, it may not be too late to take time and go on a photo walk. But, as you know, it can also be a photo you already have in your files, all that matters is that you took it yourself.

I look forward to doing this with you, please do participate, I want to see your conception of re-birth.

Bill Maher interview on tonight's show: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - rest of lineup follows here

HBO tonight 10 pm EST


The Interview:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an NBA legend who played center for the L.A. Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks and holds the title of the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. In 2000, he coached the Clippers under owner Donald Sterling and recently wrote a Time Magazine piece on Sterling’s racial controversy.

Twitter: @kaj33

The Panel:

Monica Mehta is a financial expert,investor and author of The Entrepreneurial Instinct. Inaddition to her role as a managing principal at Seventh CapitalInvestment, Mehta is an ambassador for Operation Hope’s Project 5117, which seeks to “empower economic mobility byteaching five million at-risk kids financial literacy basics and providing onemillion middle and high school students entrepreneurship training.”

Twitter: @MonicaMehtaNYC

Walter Kirn is the author ofeight books and two e-books, including Upin the Air and Thumbsucker – bothof which have been made into films.His latest work, Blood Will Out, is about his “unsuspecting ten-year friendship with theimposter and murder who called himself ‘Clark Rockefeller.’”

Twitter: @WalterKirn

Lt.Gov. Gavin Newsom is the LieutenantGovernor of California. He chairs the California Commission on EconomicDevelopment and is the author of Citizenville:How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government.

Twitter: @GavinNewsom



Mid-Show Guest:

Ziggy Marley joins the panel mid-show totalk about his latest album, Fly Rasta. Marley has also authored hisfirst children’s book,I Love You Too, and created Ziggy Marley Organics, a line of GMO-free food products.

Twitter:@ZiggyMarley