Tribute to motherhood by local author

Local author Ben Burton, a former high school football coach and industry manager who took early retirement to pursue a career as a professional speaker/humorist and writer, has penned a new tribute to his mother.

He has written in each career and continues to write in retirement, having written three books and numerous articles. His humor column, "The Playful Pen," was carried in several state papers. He and his wife of 65 years, LaVerne, live in Hot Springs and have four children, six grandchildren, and an increasing number of great grandchildren. The Burtons were named Arkansas' All-American family in 1971 and were finalists in Parade Magazine's national competition in Florida, a news release said.

Burton wrote the following about his mother, entitled "How Mother Lee Spawned the Write Brothers":

"Our mother died at age 90, never suspecting that she had been afflicted all her life with logophilia and had passed it along to us children. She would have been so proud to have me say that; but only if I pronounced logophilia right.

"If by now you have gotten back from where you keep your dictionary, you will know that logophilia is the worship of or devotion to words. As unlikely as it may seem, our dear, barely-educated, stay-at-home, Progressive Farmer-type mother aggressively loved words and our language. She used words colorfully, forcefully and, above all, properly. Mother imprinted her children with this impelling interest in words. 'Words are what we think with!' she preached often, 'the more the better' being her obvious implication. And few puns ever evaded her, to wit: 'Love is a four liter word, boys; there's always enough there for all of us!'

"Mother has been gone many years but still lives vividly in countless ways. One way that her love for words has branched out into her children may have set a record: all three of her sons are published authors. See their works at the wonderful Garland County Library. By now we all know mother had a word for -- and a hand in -- that accomplishment."

The Burton brothers' works include the following: "ESCAPE From Terror," by Paul Burton; "When No One Pursues," by Len Burton; and "The Chicken That Won a Dogfight," by Ben Burton.