Letter to the Editor
Nearing retirement after teaching for many years in an inner-city school in Memphis, Tenn., I decided to leave the city and look for a good place to retire. One day between classes, I stepped out into the hall to speak to the teacher next door. I asked her a question that proved fateful to me. I asked, “If you could live anywhere in the U.S., where would you go?” She said: “Tryon, N.C.”
“Why there?” I asked.
Without hesitation, she said, “Because the nicest people in the world live there.”
I relayed this information to my sister, who wanted to leave Indiana. She visited the Polk County area and immediately bought a house there. When I visited her in her new home, I realized that my friend had spoken the truth about the “nicest people in the world.”
So I, myself, moved to Tryon and have been very happy in this beautiful place. I’m reminded of Dinah Shore’s song about the “dear hearts and gentle people” of her hometown. This could be said of those who were born here as well as those who have chosen to move here.
Please, please do not let rude events like the July fourth dunking booth and the selling of T-shirts with assault rifles saying “Liberals Suck” erode the quality of life in this wonderful area. Such behavior is not funny; [it is] just plain mean. It is neither cute nor clever – just tacky.

– Mayme Sellers, Tryon