Cal Thomas
| Syndicated Columnist
| Tuesday, May 13, 2008
May 13, 2008
In this political year on overdrive, I want to pause to remember Eddy Arnold, who died last week just short of his 90th birthday. I never met the great country and western singer who had hit records in every decade from the 1940s until the 2000s, but his voice was familiar to me growing up and long into adulthood.
What impressed me most about Arnold was that there was never any scandal associated with his long life. What impressed me even more was that he was married to his wife for 66 years. In an age when right and wrong have disappeared and marriage or cohabitation are part of a multiple choice of lifestyles, Eddy and Sally Arnold defied the odds and mocked the culture.
Arnold had a string of 28 “number one” country hits, his most famous being “Make the World Go Away” and “I’ll Hold You in My Heart ‘Til I Can Hold You in My Arms.”
Eddy Arnold was a country gentleman – a relic of a past that seems long gone, but that some people still find rewarding. Sixty-six years of marriage. Impressive … and a model for others.
Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.
