“Walt Rood?” I said. “Is that who’s in the coffin?”

I had run out with a camera and a notepad after the Starkville Daily News newsroom had gotten several telephone calls about a hippie dragging a psychedelically painted coffin behind him as he walked along the shoulder of U.S. 82 between Columbus and Starkville.

“We Are Living the Results of Our Decisions,” he said, and spelled out the acronym, “W-A-L-T-R-O-O-D,” which he also had painted on the sides of the coffin.

I stared into his Charles Manson-like eyes as he told me WALT ROOD was an ancient concept, but he could not cite any sources to back that up.

He said he believed people had forgotten the concept, so he was walking and dragging that coffin from Massachusetts to California to remind them of it.

No particular decision had spurred his walk, he said. He just wanted people to be aware of the concept so they would make better decisions along the way.

He was living off the generosity of strangers, he said. He had no funding, no backing and no one had put him up to it.

“Just remember WALT ROOD.”

I snapped a picture and wrote up what those of us in the business call a “Brite” about it.

I don’t remember if we even ran that story, but he got the point across to me and ever since I’ve been conscious of WALT ROOD’s legacy, and I don’t regret any of my own decisions.

Of all the stories I have covered in my journalism career, that story popped up in my mind a lot in recent weeks as I’ve made my latest career move from the Mississippi Gulf Coast to Natchez.

Such decisions are not made without careful consideration, and whatever the results of my career move, I will know I considered WALT ROOD in making the decision.

I suppose WALT ROOD was always with me in some form even before I interviewed that hippie some 20 years ago. He just gave it a name and brought it to my attention.

Making better decisions is probably why I went into journalism in the first place — or, maybe it is why I stayed in journalism, a love of writing and telling stories was my entry point.

Once I got into journalism, though, I found that I like covering communities and spotlighting people and organizations that are making a difference in their communities.

Placing the spotlight on people and issues, good or bad, can help remedy problems or further causes that in turn can help other people and help people make better decisions in their own lives and communities.

WALT ROOD is perhaps no more important anywhere than it is in government. Governmental decisions, whether local, state or national, can have lasting impacts on people’s lives.

That’s what WALT ROOD is all about, making better decisions along the way so you — or your children or your children’s children — don’t regret the decisions you make years down the road.

I hope to make WALT ROOD proud during my tenure at The Natchez Democrat, and I hope the work we do here can help everyone — in the communities we cover and serve — make WALT ROOD proud, too.
Scott Hawkins is editor of The Natchez Democrat. Portions of this column appeared on his Facebook page about a month ago.