Hightower Lowdown

The holidays got me to thinking about America’s spirit of giving, and I don’t mean the overdone business of Christmas gifts. The media likes to spotlight the occasional showy donation by philanthropist tycoons who donate a little piece of their billions to universities or museums.

But in my mind, the real philanthropists are the millions of ordinary folks who have little money, but consistently give of themselves, and do it without getting a building named after them.

My own Daddy, rest his soul, was a fine example of this. With half a dozen other guys in Denison, Texas, he started the Little League baseball program, volunteering to build the park, sponsor and coach the teams, run the P.A. system, etc. Even after I graduated from Little League, Daddy kept working at it. His involvement was not merely for his kids . . . but for all.

He felt the same way about being taxed to build a public library. I don’t recall him ever checking out a book, but he wanted it to be there for the community and was happy to pay his part.

Daddy was no liberal do-gooder—indeed, he called himself a conservative. He didn’t know he had a political philosophy. But he did, and it was the best I’ve ever heard. He’d often say, “Everybody does better when everybody does better.”