After several years of zinging the Freethinkers or atheists or agnostics or whatever they call themselves, I had the opportunity to sit down with one of their movers and shakers, Ed Buckner, over coffee recently in Smyrna. If I was expecting horns and a pitchfork, I was to be disappointed. Buckner has a good sense of humor and can give as good as he gets. We don’t agree on religion but we do agree on a lot of other things, including the need to improve public education in Georgia and our love of family. When I get to heaven, I am going to put in a good word for him. ...

I keep hearing about all the problems that the City of Marietta is having these days. Other than a big, ugly hole in the ground where the Cuthbertson building used to be, some tone-deaf property owners who could have handled booting illegally-parked automobiles with a little more class and an unnecessary flap over a neon sign ordinance, things look pretty good to me in downtown Marietta. Excellent restaurants, art galleries, antique shops, museums, theaters, the First Friday Art Walk, the Saturday farmers market and a lot of folks — including children — enjoying themselves on the Square. I am sure there are a lot of cities around the state that would love to have Marietta’s “problems.” ...

Rich Pellegrino, director of the Cobb Immigration Alliance, moderated a forum at the Crosspoint Presbyterian Church on Kings Springs Road recently to talk about HB 87 — a law that makes illegal immigration, well, illegal. The usual crowd of suspects gathered: the Asian American Legal Advocacy Center, the Cobb Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Cobb Immigration Alliance, the pastor of Crosspoint Presbyterian Church and an immigration lawyer. Who was missing? Anyone to speak on behalf of the legislation signed into law by Gov. Nathan Deal. Said Pellegrino to the MDJ’s Marcus Howard, “We deliberately don’t have anybody that’s pro-HB 87 on this panel, as you can tell — I’ll tell you up front — because we don’t see any benefit at all to HB87.” Oh, OK. Silly me. I keep thinking that in a democracy we talk about all sides of an issue. ...

Andrew Grant deYoung is scheduled to be executed on July 20, convicted of murdering his parents and younger sister in northeast Cobb in 1993. Of course, there is always the possibility that the execution will be delayed because the last guy put to death in Georgia had spasms as he was en route to Hades. Defense attorneys are saying that the pentobarbital in the solution may have been the cause of his discomfort and that the episode violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. No word yet from defense attorneys about the cruel and unusual punishment heaped on the victims . ...

Jim Storey, of Kennesaw, wrote a Letter to the Editor disagreeing with my characterization of the various schemes legislators use to advantage private schools over public schools. Good for him. That is what makes this a great country. We can agree to disagree. What is scary was another letter asking people not to read Ann Coulter’s opinions in the MDJ. She called Coulter a “fringe hater.” That smacks of censorship. Why not take out liberal weenie Bill Press, too? He can hate with the best of them. In fact, let’s not allow anybody in the newspaper with whom we disagree. Maybe we can ask Rich Pellegrino to tell us what we should think. ...

Finally, the opening of my art exhibit at the Earl Smith Strand Theater last Friday was more fun than I deserve. If you missed it, you can still see my work during the month of July. The Strand’s regular business hours are Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. I tried to speak to everybody that evening but it was difficult with the large number of people there.

Regrettably, I missed the opportunity to meet Reader Bill, the undisputed leader of the Loyal Opposition. Reader Bill doesn’t think I am very funny and once told me I write better with pathos. I was afraid to ask who Pathos is, but I believe he may be one of the Three Musketeers. Reader Bill says that after seeing me in person, I look a lot older than the picture that runs with this column.

No wonder. Reader Bill has made an old man out of me. But I am glad he came. Everybody else, too.

You can reach Dick Yarbrough at yarb2400@bellsouth.net or P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139.