By David Hitt
Former DM Staff Member
Editor's note: This column originally appeared in the June 13, 1996 edition of The DM after the writer met Meredith and took his picture in front of the Lyceum.
James Meredith is a legend.
He's the sort of person that you hear about, that you are taught to admire, and that you will never meet.
But I did.
I've heard of the recent news, the odd stuff, the David Duke campaign, all of that, as well.
But today, none of it mattered. I saw a glimpse of something larger than we ever get to see in our day to day lives.
I took a picture, a shot that hasn't been taken for a long, long time. James Meredith, in front of the Lyceum. He remarked that the bullet holes are still there.
I even got to ask him a question. I asked what is was like looking at the Lyceum now, all these years later, what he saw.
I don't know what answer I expected. Something deep and involved, something that would cover the years, capture the spirit of all the time that had passed, the things that had happened, the bullet that hit the Lyceum column later hitting its mark, all of it. I got my answer, but not what I expected. I expected a speech from a legend. I got the answer of a man. Simple, to the point.
"The same six columns."
The answer of a man.
And nothing else would have seemed right.