I had a lady come up to me once down here at a basketball tournament, and
this has been several years ago, I guess ten or twelve years ago, and
she was a classmate of mine in high school. And she talked to me along
these lines. I couldn't really conceive of her feeling that way, but I
got to thinking more about it. I guess maybe she had something. She
said, "Zeno, I worry about you." She said, "My God, you've got the power
of life or death
Page 54 in Madison County." I said, "Hush,
you're wrong. I don't sit on the bench; I don't pass sentences on
anybody." She said, "Yes, but your influence—it's terrific." And she was
real serious. She was almost just preaching to me. And of course I was
just responding I thought real honestly. But I got to thinking
afterwards. You know in politics you don't have to hold office to exert
influence. You just have to have friends, key people, that can get jobs
done. And oftentimes if they know what you want, perhaps they'll go
ahead and work their heart out and you might not even be aware, you
might not be cognizant of the fact that they are doing this because they
know that that's what you basically want. And they're doing it, well,
maybe not for green stamps, but because they trust your judgment, they
think you're right, and they're working very diligently to bring it
about. So, I think some of the greatest politicians we have had are some
of the people who have maybe never held office. We had a fellow here in
Asheville, Gay Green, who never held a public office. He lived to be
ninety, I believe, or close to it. And he practically ran Buncombe
County and western North Carolina for forty years. He could tell you who
the manager was going to be ten years from now. And he could tell you
how he got the last one fired.