One of my favorite memories from my adolescence is spending time with my dad each morning as he cooked breakfast while the rest of the Martin clan stumbled out of bed (a lengthy process, for sure).
No matter the morning, I could count on three constants: NPR playing softly from the kitchen radio, the smell of bacon and eggs cooking on the stove top, and the [Knoxville] News Sentinel spread across the kitchen table.
As I'd read the Cubs or Bulls box scores, depending on the season, Dad would talk me out of my slumber - a trial attorney, silent impasses with my father have always been rare occurrences. But it was during these kitchen conversations that I first heard the name Thomas Sowell. Often Dad would remark upon Sowell's most recent column, hinting that I should give it a look.
My typically teenage response: "mmhmm," and then kept right on with the sports page.
Dad always wanted me to read more, but he never pushed too hard, likely for fear that overbearingness would turn me farther away from the written word. That didn't keep him from making constant suggestions, though.
Lo and behold, at some point I actually took his advice. My father's book recommendation that won me over was Stephen Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage," a best-seller documenting Lewis and Clark's expedition to the Pacific Ocean. And the opinion writer who captured my attention was Sowell.
I don't recall which particular column did it, or why I ended up reading him (perhaps I was simply bored one day), but over the years Sowell has been my go-to guy. Sadly, you may already be aware, this is coming to an end with his announced retirement. Indeed, you'll find the 86-year-old's final column this Sunday on the Chattanooga Free Press editorial page.
No matter the specific topic he's tackled, and there have been many, his philosophical anchor has always been an unwavering commitment to individual liberty. This, naturally, means he's been very critical of America's ever-expanding government.
The way he sees it, as do I, as government grows, individuals lose liberties and easily become dependent on bureaucracy. In short, we trade timeless freedoms for immediate comforts. The upshot of this scenario is that over-reliance on government cripples people from realizing their full potential.
This is a universal truth. One that is blind to race, gender or economic standing. Yet for Sowell, an African-American who grew up in Harlem in the 1930s and 40s, he's routinely zeroed in on how that reliance on government has been ruinous for much of America's black population.
For this, Sowell is the frequent object of scorn because his message gets dumbed down to "don't be lazy, work harder" - a simple notion that makes him easily attackable from the left as a compassionless, anti-black black conservative. Or, in more coarse phrasing, an Uncle Tom.
That's not Sowell.
First of all, if you've ever read any of his books, you'll see that his mind does not function on "simple" mode. And second, he's not one to point accusatory fingers at African-Americans who've found themselves in tough circumstances. Rather, he warns them, "You're doing this wrong. There's a better way." The same thing he tells everyone, every week.
Whatever your perspective of Sowell, it's impossible to deny that it will be tough to fill the void left by the retirement of this intellectual heavyweight. Especially since conservative media now seem to prefer style over substance.
This weekend, the Martins will be getting together for our annual holiday gathering. To be sure, my father and I will be speaking at length about the most recent Sowell column, both of us saddened it will be the last time.
Contact David Allen Martin at davidallenmartin423@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @DMart423.