“A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.”
— Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) Indian independence activist and writer.
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“So how is it pronounced,” she asked?
“Suh – BEAN,” I said slowly and deliberately. “The first syllable is pronounced like ‘uh.’ The last rhymes with ‘bean’ as in ‘beans and peas.’ And there is an ever so slight emphasis on the last syllable. ” … “Suh – BEAN,” I repeated.
“And you know this how,” my friend inquired with just a hint of doubt.
“Cultural experience,” I told her. “How one pronounces a word depends on the culture in which they learned it. Like I did while living in Sabine Parish, Louisiana, a few years ago … and a different side of the river.
“Variants exist,” I warned. “One, used predominantly by residents on the Texas side of the river. It’s pronounced rhyming the first syllable with the word ‘sad,’ drawing it out and shifting a heavy emphasis to that first syllable … SA-bean.”
That conversation about the 360-mile-long Sabine River which serves as part of the boundary between Texas and Louisiana, occurred a year or so ago. It came up again last week while in an antique store in Shreveport where I walked into a conversation — literally.
The emporium of relics was huge. A maze of two stories and multiple rooms to navigate. One filled with books where two men sat at a long table talking . I first suspected they might have been lost and trying to figure out how to find their way out of the humongous building. I know I was.
Not wanting to interfere with their dialogue, but also not wanting to appear rude, I briefly glanced in their direction, smiled, and nodded. The younger of the two sat on the other side of the table from where I stood. Snippets of what I overheard sounded as though he may have been interviewing the older gentleman at the end of the table.
“Lots to look at, isn’t there,” the first commented.
“Yes, sir,” I responded. Pausing briefly, I then added, “I couldn’t help but overhear someone say something about The Sabine Index. In another lifetime many years ago, I worked for The Sabine News in Many, Louisiana. An upstart competing newspaper to the Index.”
“Robert Gentry,” the younger man said with a wide smile.
“That was him,” I countered. “Editor and owner of the Index when I was serving time in Many.”
“Now he was a character,” the older gentleman added, bearing down on the ‘he.’
I laughed. “I was a 20-something rookie hired by two Texas guys, recent purchasers of the News. They sent me down there as editor, but the local partner was seldom in the office. So, I wound up as a young, transplanted Texan directing an editorial effort competing with Mr. Gentry. With little to no knowledge of what a large Louisiana legend the man was.”
Robert Gentry conducted his own funeral and prepared his final resting place while he was still alive. Which, as far as I could discern from research last week, he still is. A lifelong journalist, country music historian, author, political consultant, concert promoter, businessman, and colorful Louisiana native just begins to describe him. Look him up online.
His 2011 funeral was at Rebel State Commemorative Area near Marthaville, La. Long-time friend and four-time Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards delivered the eulogy, “insults, and other remarks,” according to recorded accounts.
Gentry’s wife sang vocal selections. A procession to “When the Saints Go Marchin’ In” was conducted. A list of Louisiana speakers, including elected officials and well-known personalities, commented. And country music legend Gene Watson and his Farewell Party Band closed the service.
As a political consultant, Gentry was the last public relations director for Louisiana Gov. Earl K. Long. He also directed country, gospel, and bluegrass programs at the Rebel Historic Site he founded, which was later taken into the state’s park systems. Performers included Roy Acuff, Gov. Jimmie Davis, Grandpa Jones, Kitty Wells, Bill Anderson, Bill Monroe, Ernest Tubb, and Lester Flatt, to name just a few.
Before owning the Index, Gentry worked at the Natchitoches Enterprise and Times. During his ownership of the Many newspaper for more than 47 years, it was considered one of Louisiana’s premier weeklies.
“And that’s where I met him,” I told the gentlemen last week. “The Sabine News never held a candle to The Index, but I consider my time producing a newspaper in the same community with Mr. Gentry a learning experience. Plus, it was an excellent introduction to the differing cultures of the two states.
“And,” I remarked, “I’ll never forget the day I left the News and Many. I went to Mr. Gentry’s office to tell him I was leaving town and thank him for the learning experience afforded me just by working in the same market with him. And you know what … he offered me a job.”
Not wanting to further hinder the conversation I accidentally meandered into last week, I moved toward the door with a wave and said, “Thank you for the memories.”
“Thank you,” said the older gentleman.
Then added, “And thank you for pronouncing Sabine correctly rather than the way people who have never lived in Louisiana pronounce it.”
—Leon Aldridge
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Aldridge columns are featured in these publications: The Center Light and Champion, the Mount Pleasant Tribune, the Rosenberg Fort Bend Herald, the Taylor Press, the Alpine Avalanche, the Fort Stockton Pioneer, the Elgin Courier, The Monitor in Naples, and Motor Sports Magazine.
© Leon Aldridge and A Story Worth Telling 2024. Excerpts and links may be used, provided full and clear credit is given to Leon Aldridge and ‘A Story Worth Telling’ with appropriate and specific directions to the original content.
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