A reader recently challenged a reporter here, determined to get him to change the geographical designation he had placed on a recent murder.
The victim was found on Alexandria Drive, near Leestown Road, an extension of Main Street.
The reader argued the location of the victim should not have been described as “north” Lexington. It should, instead, be described as west, the reader said, or even southwest, because Main Street is used as the north/south dividing line for the city and the victim was located south of that line.
And while all that is true from the perspective of those of us who have battled for years to redeem the devalued and much maligned northside, it is not true on a map.
I was startled to learn my home, in what I long considered the northside, really isn’t. But I won’t stop saying it is.
With more and more of us being led by GPS systems, we are going to have to change how we once perceived directions to what the satellites tell us.
And, if we have to once again cringe when negative news occurs in our area, so be it.
The positive side is that as this city grows, a lot of other people will cringe with us.
I am a native Kentuckian, and I have worked at the Lexington Herald-Leader for nearly a quarter of a century. I've been a columnist for almost 20 of those years, dispensing my opinions about anything and everything. Born in Owensboro, Ky., I'm old enough to have lived through racial segregation, the Civil Rights Movement, protests against the Vietnam War, and the break-up of the Beatles. That means I am "old school," and my thoughts emanate from that perspective.