Today's anecdote: I've told this story often, but it bears retelling today. In 1981, researching a Washington Post piece on Dean Smith, I learned from his minister, Robert Seymour, that Dean--as an assistant coach--had played a role in de-segregating restaurants in Chapel Hill...
in 1958. Dean and a black member of the church walked into a well-known local restaurant and, essentially, dared management to not serve them. Management knew who Dean was although he was NOT the head coach, Frank McGuire was. The two men were served. Soon after, others followed.
When I asked Dean his memories of that night, he said, 'who told you that?' I said Reverend Seymour. He said, 'I wish he hadn't told you that.' I said, 'Why, you should be proud of what you did.' That's when he said something I've repeated hundreds of times since then...
"John, you should never be proud of doing the right thing, you should just DO the right thing." If you've heard the story before--I don't apologize. Can't tell it enough. Words to live by.
