To the editor:

George Highfill, a man of unassuming grace and an authentic son of the Great Plains, who weekly reviews the great journals, magazines and newspapers of our country, has recently directed my attention to an extraordinary essay entitled “Lie Down for America: How the Republican Party Sows Ruin on the Great Plains” published in the April 2004 edition of Harper’s Magazine.

I found this essay, written by a native Kansan, Thomas Frank, to be highly scintillating for this moderate Republican’s mind. I have long felt that we need a way to reconfigure and re-energize the politics of our state. This essay may be a step in that direction. I, therefore, urge all Kansans who are concerned about the long political impasse in which our state is trapped to read this notable essay and to wait with me for the publication of Thomas Frank’s book to be entitled “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” which will be published in June.

Phil Friedeman,

Lawrence