- Viewpoint -

by Allan Dennis

The word shock doesn’t come close to describing the collective reaction of Almaguin residents to the news that Richard Thomas had been seriously injured in a highway accident.

My trusty thesaurus offers alternate words such as daze, flabbergast, stun, frightful, ghastly and horrible. But none truly capture how we all felt after the accident.

In my 30 years at this newspaper, I’ve never seen such outpouring of concern for any one individual. It shows the very high esteem held by the people of this area towards Richard Thomas.

It’s an honour well deserved.

I first met Richard back in 1976 when I did a feature story on his recording studio in Kearney. Like many others before and after me, I became a fan right off. As I got to know Dick (I’ve always called him Richard), I look on him as a friend.

I have had the privilege of observing Richard from his days in the 1970s on Perry Council to his present time as Reeve of Armour Township.
That includes him nearly knocking over the Tory political machine in the 1981 election against Ernie Eves. It’s well known that Richard lost by a miserable six-vote difference to the eventual Premier of Ontario. I grimaced many times later listening to people say, “If I had only voted in that election.”

I also watched from here when Richard traveled the province as he took on the provincial Liberal brotherhood. In a very expensive undertaking, he came third in the race for the party’s leadership. The winner David Peterson eventually became Premier.

Are you seeing a pattern here?

One of the many positive aspects I found with Richard’s attempts in the provincial and federal elections is how he excited people about the political system. These people had previously been totally apathetic toward the process, but Richard excited them about the prospect that they really could do something about changing the system.

I could easily fill this page listing his many accomplishments outside and in politics. And that’s not even touching on broadcasting, sports, farming, theories of economic systems, alternative fuels, music, art, literature, story telling... well, you get the idea.

And then there’s the numerous times he stepped up to help a neighbour, friend or simply someone who needed a hand. Richard many times didn’t know when to say no. Despite his very busy schedule, he would be there.

And being there may have included everything from watching over neighbour’s farm animals to taking on provincial bureaucracy that was coming after a local resident.

He recently told me a number of times that he had taken on about five fights and he wasn’t winning any one of them. Despite his frustration, that wasn’t going to stop him. He was prepared to carry on despite being outgunned. Even at 73 his energy, coupled with immense intelligence made him a formidable foe.

I was a bit upset at the TV news report on Richard’s accident when they referred to him as elderly. If anyone doesn’t fit the definition of elderly, it’s Richard Thomas.

In about three weeks it is 18 years since Richard started writing a column for this newspaper (January 28, 1987).

I was covering the annual cattlemen’s meeting in Magnetawan. Richard was the guest speaker. During the meeting he kept telling the cattlemen that citizens should always ask dumb questions. “Dumb questions poke into things that seem so obvious we should be embarrassed to ask about them,” he said. “Sometimes though, they find a thin spot in what we thought was true and let a new light shine on things we had forgotten.”
So, the next week we started his column headed, Ask A Dumb Question. After about eight years, Richard took some time away from the column. When he came back he decided to call it And Another Thing...

His column definitely raised the quality of writing found not just on this page but in the entire newspaper.

I have had the great fortune each Monday morning for the past 18 years of having Richard’s wonderful words read to me by one of Canada’s greatest voices. I deeply missed that this past Monday morning. It appears that my Monday mornings for the next while shall be equally void (See Sarah Thomas’ column across the page).

But I shall remain the optimist, and look forward to some day soon when my friend returns to again ask us all dumb questions and another thing...

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