Word: parr
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...Lyndon Johnson's sidesplitting acts when he resided hereabouts was on George Parr, the "Duke" of Duyal County in Texas. Lyndon would imitate Parr calling in on his old-fashioned crank telephone. "Can you hear me, Lyndon, can you hear me?" L.B.J. the mime would quaver, holding up an imaginary two-piece phone. Then Johnson would act out his own role. "Yes, yes, go ahead, George." And sure enough, the Duke would report another election landslide for his chosen candidates, Lyndon being one. Johnson was funny imitating Parr. The thought of Parr was funny, being...
...toward the sun, which then draws it forward and out"; a crystalline day of fishing on a Minnesota lake; brave old houses that shudder at North Dakota blizzards but withstand them. As fondly as an oldtimer, Woiwode, 33, compares the merits of long-forgotten tractor brands (the Hart Parr, Waterloo Boy, Rumley Oil Pull) and stocks a winter larder as it was in the days before home freezers: "The potato bin was full. There were parsnips, kohlrabi, turnips and rutabagas, all dipped in paraffin to preserve them, in other bins, and carrots buried under sand...
...recent years Parr had become something of a relic. Old friends gradually began to turn their backs. A hint of bitterness would creep into Parr's piercing blue eyes as he saw his power slipping away...
Another Fortune. Nonetheless, Parr's well-greased machine got out the vote as before. Duval County went for Kennedy and Johnson by a 12 to 1 margin in 1960, and John Connally, vying for the gubernatorial nomination two years later, swept the county 14 to 1. Things began to look up for the boss: the U.S. Supreme Court threw out his school-funds conviction, and the Government dropped a tax-evasion case it had been preparing. Quietly he built another fortune. No one knows just how, but Parr's long-standing network of friends surely helped...
...afraid," he remarked. "I just hope they don't have any bedbugs." Two weeks ago, a federal district court denied his appeal; when it was learned that he had been seen toting a gun, a hearing was scheduled to consider revoking his bond. But George Parr, a persistent piece of Western folklore to the end, decided not to go to the hearing-and picked up his pistol instead...