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Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 67

Location:
Detroit, Michigan
Issue Date:
Page:
67
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

12F DETROIT FREE PRESSMONDAY, SEPT. 24, 1984 EjHvII 1 II Jim Fitzgerald In battle against creeps, mbh ii Hy n.j, -V I a swing is a small victory I like to take my grandchildren into the forest region of Belle Isle to watch deer browse free and 1 Ssi unafraid alongside the road, just a few feet from people. It is a splendid thing to be able to do just I five minutes from my downtown high-rise home It can't be done up north, where deer are fright ened of people because they often carry uncon ML. T) fi cealed weapons. The Belle Isle deer tend to attract youngsters, so maybe the deer should be shot.

That is a bitter thought I couldn't help thinking after I learned that Detroit takes down many playground swings in August because they tend to attract youngsters. It was explained to me that the swings in Lafayette Park, next to my home, were removed in 80-degree weather because the school across the boulevard was opening and kids on swings "disrupt the education process." Which makes 1 about as much sense as closing hospitals because sick people hang around them and disrupt the curing process. Km I I was asked to understand that sometimes teenage creeps use playground equipment near elementary schools, and the big kids pick on the little kids. But I don't understand. I AM SO DAMN SICK of society giving up instead of fighting back.

I am sick of hearing that if I. take a walk after dark, I'll get what I deserve. I am sick of hearing that old people, attacked in File Photo their city homes, should have known enough to Chet Lemon this year will finish with his highest batting average as a Tiger. He was hitting ,280 through Saturday's game. move to the suburbs.

I amsick of being told that I was a fool to buy a car with the type of ore back! hubcaps that tempt thieves. I am sick of barred windows, fortress-type buildings and 10 locks on every door. I am sick of doing business with store clerks encased inside a Plexiglas cocoon like a tooth brush. If there are creeps hanging around parks, preventing non-creeps from enjoying the playground equipment, what does government do about it? It removes the equipment. That's easier than removing the creeps.

At Campbell Elementary School on Chene, the swings come down, but the creeps can move into the vacant, partially burned building next door, from where they can prey on non-creeps. It is easier to remove a kid's swing than to remove a -WWiiiij File Photo Chet Lemon may win a Gold Glove this year, but it won't replace his tattered regular mitt. "My glove is ugly," he admits. "But it's special to me." Images of a complete player images of Chet Lemon playing baseball are difficult to forget. A center fielder by trade, emon covers considerable ground in left and right as well.

He gets his lump before the building that threatens a kid's life. What is the answer? Sure, the long-range solution is better education, more jobs, responsible parents and a caring society. I write that all the time and readers call me a bleeding heart sap. And the short-range solution is to protect innocent citizens by curbing the creeps, not by advising innocent citizens to hide under the bed. When I write that, readers say amen, amen.

ONE OF THOSE who recently said amen, or something similar, was Daniel Krichbaum, director of the Parks and Receation Department. After my first column on the subject, Krichbaum told me the swings would be returned to Lafayette Park. He said he was ending the policy of removing playground equipment from parks near schools before school opens every September. From now on, he said, equipment will be removed for repair only. Krichbaum also said he planned to meet with schools Superintendent Arthur Jefferson and suggest the same change in policy for school playgrounds.

So hallelujah! It is still possible to win small victories in the name of justice and common sense. We may yet be able to save ourselves from fighting creeps by killing deer on Belle Isle. crack of the bat, and moves under fly balls that seconds earlier seemed out of reach. His trademark catch Is a one- May in Cleveland against Carmelo Castillo. In August he helped preserve an important Tigers victory by robbing Boston's Mike Easier with a running, over-the-head ctch near the wall.

Lemon also has an unforgettable side as a base runner: He sometimes dives into first. At one point this summer, he was doing it so often that Tigers doctors suggested he stop so his aching back could heal. There was that harsh picture from California In late August when Lemon lost a fly in the sun and was hit on the side of the head. The blow caused a concussion and extreme Statistics Full name: Chester Earl Lemon Born: Feb. 12, 1955, in Jackson, Miss.

Family: Married Valerie Jones. Children: Geneva, 12, Chester 7, David, 3. Career: Made major league debut as infielder for Chicago White Sox in 1 975. Became regular center fielder for Sox the next year. Set American League record for putouts and chances in 1977.

All Star in 1978 and 1979. Hit .300 for third time in career for White Sox in 1981. Came to Tigers in trade for Steve Kemp on Nov. 27, 1981. Played primarily right field in 1982 and was switched to center last season.

Thle year: Hitting .280 with 19 home runs and 75 RBIs through Saturday's game has solidified his position as Tigers center fielder starter in All Star game in San Francisco among leading candidates for Gold Glove Award. dizziness, but Lemon was back in the lineup 12 days later when the Tigers began an important series against Baltimore. Earlier in the game in which he was beaned, Lemon had hit a grand slam, his 18th home run in what has been one of his best seasons in a 1 0-year major league career. Lemon, 29, was born in Jackson, but raised in Los Angeles, where he also was a star running back at Fremont High. Lemon and wife, Valerie, have three children and live in Bloomfield Hills.

Third in a series of Tiger profiles. handed grab with a flimsy old glove positioned behind the left ear. Another sight Lemon has made familiar is a leaping catch of a potential home run before sails over the fence. He did that last summer against California's Rod Carew, then made a similar catch In early names 8 faces Disney in need of a fairy godmother? Royal faces in the crowd Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip look over the field Sunday at the National Carriage Championships at Windsor. The queen watched as the prince, who is an international-class driver, drove a carriage in the competition.

-mum I 0" i i Evans: Collins: AP Pholo WHAT WOULD WALT SAY? For the first time since Walt Disney Productions was founded in 1923, directors reportedly have chosen two outsiders to run the tightly knit organization. They are Michael Eisner, ex-president of Paramount, and Frank Wells, a Warner Bros, vice-president. Eisner will be chairman; Wells president of Disney. Their work is cut out for them: The company has been plagued by falling revenue and takeover attempts, while its Disneyland and Disney World theme parks are threatened by strikes. AUTHOR DORIS LESSING, whose 25 books have sold millions of copies, said Sunday she wrote two novels under a pseudonym to dramatize the plight of unknown writers.

The books were rejected by her own publisher, ignored by critics and sold poorly. The British writer told the Sunday Times in London and the New York Times that she wrote the novels, "The Diary of a Good Neighbour" and "If the Old under the name Jane Somers to prove "nothing succeeds like success." "If the books had come out in my name, they would have sold a lot of copies aftd reviewers wtfuld have said, joked throughout his three-hour plus rock show about the rigors of advancing age saying, "I'm getting too old for this my heart, my legs, my head Fans tossed presents onstage throughout the show, including the aforementioned cake. A good time was had by all. WHEN THE SULTAN of Brunei handed the mayor of New York an envelope, the mayor beamed: It was a check for $500,000 to provide meals for homebound elderly New Yorkers. Said the sultan: "I am glad I could be of help." Said Mayor Ed Koch: "I'm delighted.

They do things in a big way in Brunei." DO WOMEN want to dress like the dastardly Alexis or her do-good rival Krystle, two stars on the soap opera We'll find out in November, with the introduction of a 45-piece "Dynasty" fashion line. The collection is fantasy fare for women who want to live like the characters portrayed by Joan Collins and Linda Evans. Says Barbara Zabach, a manufacturer's spokeswoman: "It is every woman's dream to come down to breakfast dressed to the teeth and tell the butler 'No, thank you. Just coffee this briefly: Belgian princess weds Lochhorns Do women envy them? 'Oh, Doris Lessing, how As it was, both flopped. PRESIDENT REAGAN and Americans in general drew the wrath of British author Graham Greene in an interview published Sunday to mark his approaching 80th birthday.

Greene said Reagan is "a menace" and "as extreme as anyone in the Kremlin." Americans, growled Greene, are "noisy and incredibly ignorant of the world." BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN wished himself happy birthday rock 'n' roll style Saturday night by smashing a birthday cake into his own face during a sell-out concert at Pittsburgh's Civic Arena. Springsteen, who turned 35 Saturday, LEFT: Comedian Andy Kaufman, who died of lung cancer at age 35, an estate valued at $430,000 to his parents, brother and sister, according to his will. WINNER: Jon Kimura Parker, 24, of Canada, who received the $4,340 first-place prize in the Leeds International Piano Competition in England. MARRIED: Princess Astrld. of Belgium and Archduke Lorenz, grandson of the last Austro-Hun-garian emperor, in civil and religious ceremonies in Brussels.

OUSTED: Democrat Sharon Percy Rockefeller, as chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. She lost to Sonla Landau, the Republicans' choice. NAMED: Petoskey nurse Ro-chelle Igrlsan, the March of Dimes Nurse of the Year. OH, I SUFFER FROM OCCASIONAL INSIGNIFICANT MINOR PAINS' HERE COMES ONE OF THEM NOW. Edited by BOB McKELVEY SIRtl and wires contributed.

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