Bucks
Hugh Niles, HP Thomas, Allyson Mitchell Arabic
Dear Friends,
Good morning. Before I get to the remarkable connection to the Middle East with Allyson Mitchell, a Palisades High School graduate, I want to pause over the deaths of two people. I regret that I didn’t write about General Hugh S. Niles and Dr. Howard P. Thomas, Jr. during their lifetimes.
Hugh Niles from Sellersville was a Colonel in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard when I first met him. At the time, I was a captain of an armored cavalry troop stationed in Philadelphia.
Niles flew 35 combat missions over Europe during World War II and was a decorated airman. He retired as a brigadier (one star) general.
Pennridge area people knew him as a volunteer activist. From service on the school board and borough government to the chamber of commerce and Republican politics, Niles was involved in every conceivable project for the betterment of his community. A former teacher and a coach, we’ll miss him.
General Niles, dead at 87.
The second death was Howard “H.P.” Thomas, a quiet Quaker with a super mind and a willingness to serve mankind. H.P. was a pediatrician who was trained at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In the late 1950’s he became Grand View Hospital’s first chief of pediatrics.
H.P. was our children’s pediatrician. I remember one winter’s night when our son was an infant. A blizzard was raging and Ty was running a high temperature. We called for help. One hour later, HP arrived, looking like the preverbal snowman. H.P. thought nothing about going the extra mile for his patients.
The practice of medicine is so different today…unfortunately, parts of it are not for the better. The science and techniques are fabulous but family Docs won’t make house calls anymore.
I enjoyed what one of his colleagues, Dr. Helen Rawson, said about him in H.P.’s obituary in the Inquirer (May 21): “To encourage mothers to breastfeed, Dr. Thomas explained that breast milk was sterile, was always the right temperature, and came in such nice containers.”
Couldn’t you just hear him say that with a twinkle in his eye? H.P. was one of our favorites…his community’s too. We’ll miss him. Dr. Thomas, dead at 91.
And now to Allyson Mitchell.
When Mighty Betsy landed in St. Luke’s Quakertown Hospital emergency wing, two weeks before her pacemaker installation, I had a conversation with her attending physician, Dr. Erin (Fly) Mitchell. I learned that her daughter had a remarkable story to tell. Erin’s parents are Joyce and Kenneth Fly from Quakertown. Ken is one of my classmates.
Allyson has become very knowledgeable about the Arab world. As a ninth grader at Palisades, she was selected to attend a Global Young Leaders Conference where 500 students from around the world convened.
“That’s where [the Global Young Leaders Conference] I became friends with Orooja, a Pakistani girl,” Allyson began. “I was fascinated with the Muslim culture.
“In my freshman year at Bard College, my roommate and I took Arabic together. It was the first time in my life that I had to struggle (with academics),” Allyson continued. I still haven’t mastered the language.”
Can you imagine learning to read from right to left and from top to bottom?
Allyson’s roommate, Mozhdeh Zahedi, told a harrowing story about her father who escaped Iranian jails twice, after the Shah abdicated. Her father’s friend didn’t meet such a favorable fate and was never heard from again.
Zahedi’s father found refuge in Pakistan before moving to Turkey. Her mother is an educator and the family found asylum in Kingston, New York. Zahedi’s mother is a principal at Kingston High School
At Bard, Allyson plunged into Arabic, four hours daily, five days each week. But college life at Bard didn’t suit her very well. After her freshman year, Allyson transferred to Moravian College in Bethlehem. She graduated three semesters later in 2008. Allyson is a mighty quick student…I figure that she completed her bachelor’s degree in 2 ½ years rather than the usual four.
Unfortunately for her, Moravian didn’t offer Arabic so Allyson did the next best thing. From January to June (2007), Allyson went to college in Jordan and immersed herself in the language and culture of the Arabic world. “I picked Jordan because other than Egypt, Jordan is the safest Muslim country for an unmarried woman,” she told me. During that trip, she visited Egypt and Syria.
She recalled her entry into Syria with three other young women. “There were two of us from America, one from Portugal and a Muslim woman from the United Kingdom,” she began. “Guards kept us waiting at the Syrian border for nine hours. The holdup was about us Americans. The other two wouldn’t have had a problem. It was a nuisance but I don’t blame them [the Syrians],” Allyson said. “America does the same thing to Muslims when they travel to the United States. It’s racial…ethnic profiling.
“In December of ’08, I returned to Jordan for a month,” Allyson said. “As soon as I have time and the money, I’ll return.”
Next week, Allyson Mitchell’s story continues. You’ll get her take on the prospects about peace between Israel and the Muslim world. And her experience working for the U.S. State Department is fascinating. You’ll understand her feisty nature. “I won’t take “no” for an answer if I think I’m right,” she laughs.
In the meantime, while she saves her dough and dreams about heading back to the Middle East. Allyson’s a busy young lady and works for Evolution Gun Works (E.G.W.) in downtown Quakertown. EGW manufactures parts for handguns. The company makes all the internal parts for pistols except barrels, slides and frames. Allyson’s assignments include retail sales, ordering, and liaison between EGW’s gunsmith and customers.
I forgot to ask whether she’s a crack shot?
Stay tuned.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith