Hadden died suddenly in 1929. Luce went on to start up a number of magazines including Fortune, Life, and Sports Illustrated. Luce died in 1967 in Phoenix, AZ.

There are a couple of anecdotes attributed to these two men that I’d like to share here.

The first was when Britton Hadden applied for a job after graduation from Yale in 1920. He asked Herbert Swope for a job on his high profile New York World publication.

Swope told Hadden that there was no opening for him. Hadden gathered himself and strongly replied, “Mr. Swope, you are interfering with my destiny.”

Evidently Swope was impressed or entertained enough with that reply to put Hadden to work for $25 a week. Remember that phrase, “interfering with my destiny.”

Years later, after Time magazine was a successful publication, Henry Luce responded to a critic. Luce was being criticized for his prejudices.

Luce answered, “I am a Protestant, a Republican, and a free enterpriser, which means I am biased in favor of God, Eisenhower and the stockholders of Time, Incorporated – and if anyone who objects doesn’t know this by now, why the hell are they still buying the magazine?”

These two quotes are in the category of what I call “putting your cards on the table” or “showing your colors.” Some people have an easy time saying what they feel and mean. They say it like they see it and “let the chips fall where they will.”

There’s something to be said for this philosophy. When you’re dealing with someone who lives life this way, you know where they stand. You may not agree with them, but you don’t wonder how they feel.

If one of these “cards on the table people” wants something from you, they’ll come right out and ask for it. Politicians are often good at this.

They’ll ask for your vote, your influence on your friend’s vote, your money, your friend’s money, and your time. They don’t want interference with their destiny. They want you to assist them in achieving their vision.

I think we as a county need to take a unified stand on some of our common goals and positions and state them with clarity as Henry Luce did. Like him, we need not apologize for who we are, what we believe and what our lifestyle is here. (If people don’t like us-“they don’t have to buy our magazine.”)

We need to be “biased” in favor of Sanpete County, in favor of orderly development and in favor of progress that retains the good attributes of the country living we enjoy here.

On a personal level, we need to support each other in achieving our individual destinies. As parents in Sanpete, that’s a huge responsibility as we encourage our children in their worthy goals.

We may not help start up a publishing empire; but then again-who knows?