PUBLISHER’S PAGE

On assuming his new position with a New Orleans bank three years ago, former National Bank of Commerce executive Jimmy Jones was interviewed by New Orleans Magazine. Asked to comment on the problems of his new hometown, Jones remarked, “If we could turn the clock back 25 years and take the people out of Dallas and set them in New Orleans, with all the natural advantages New Orleans enjoys, then take the people here and set them up there, today Dallas would still be a stage stop, and New Orleans would be the eighth wonder of the world. It’s that simple. “

Jones may not have won the New Orlean’s Chamber of Commerce popularity award that year, but at least he deserved a consolation prize for his honesty. It is that simple.

The one and only natural resource with which Dallas has been blessed is its people. We’ve been so fortunate that we tend to be a little spoiled. “Everything’s okay, ” we might think, “All we need is another Erik Jonsson to take charge and coordinate. ” When we find ourselves slipping into that kind of dreamland, we ought to shake ourselves and wake up. A city is allowed one Erik Jonsson every two hundred years or so, and we’ve had ours.

When we get right down to the heart of the matter, the men and women who make cities happen are neither the rare geniuses nor, of course, the headline-hunting politicos (of which we have an inordinate share). More likely, they are men like Hobart Turman. I didn’t know Turman, who died only a few weeks ago, but I know a lot of people who did know him, and their eyes invariably light up at the mention of his name. I choose him as my example because, from the few facts I’ve gathered and the innumerable anecdotes I’ve heard, Turman embodied best that elusive thing we call the Dallas spirit.

He worked his way up the ladder from the stock room in a California Sears store to the chairmanship of Dreyfuss & Sons in Dallas. At an age when retirement would have been the better part of valor, he joined in 1972 with a partner to open a new business, Turman & Reynolds. An energetic businessman who considered selling a suit among the great earthly pleasures, he found time to give the full measure of his support to civic affairs, serving as president of the Salesmanship Club and chairman of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce.

In the life of a city, the Hobart Turmans come and, sadly enough, they go. Each adds a little to the legacy of citizenship that has made public service as important to one’s success in Dallas as the achievement of position or the accumulation of wealth.

When considering how to implement all the fresh ideas currently being generated around town, we first have to look at the resource that will supply the manpower and muscle to bring them to fruition. On the political scene, the prospects are dismal. On the civic front, though, hope springs eternal: Younger men of the caliber of Lee Turner, Walt Humann, Chuck Raper. John Scovell, Jim Coker and Don Zale are making their impact felt in pushing for new and radical solutions to the city’s needs. But the action in Dallas is in business. Many of the projects needed today are being undertaken by private enterprise, with private funding. Even through the last few months of tight money, Dallas has provided an encouraging climate for entrepreneurs, who show no slack in pushing ahead with guts and imagination to pursue their dreams.

Broadening our outlook a little, the most heartening sign of the future is the number of average citizens who are involved in small, important activities across the city, ranging from the Old East Dallas preservation effort to the Heritage Society’s work at City Park.

Even on the cultural side, things look much brighter than only a few months ago. Lloyd Haldeman has outlined a wonderful spring symphony series; this magazine has already noted the successes of the Dallas Civic Opera and the Museum of Fine Arts.

We are faced with only one problem that may cramp the old Dallas style: Business executives are having a more difficult time justifying their taking two to four years from their careers to serve the city in official capacities. A man or woman who is cajoled into serving a term on the City Council, for example, is likely to return to private life with the additional burden of having to play catch-up.

On the whole, the spirit that put Dallas on the map is still pushing the city forward. Our major resource is constantly replenished by men and women who step forward to serve. By continually working to achieve the goal of a “City of Excellence, ” we make the greatest tribute a city can make to the memory of its Hobart Turmans.