Mr. Newell,

I just wanted to let you know that you have my deepest sympathy on the loss of Mrs. Newell. I know and many of my classmates that I am in contact with knew that Mrs. Newell ran Cairo High School. Maybe we underappreciated her then, and most of our teachers as well, but when we got out there on our own, college, marriage, children, etc., we appreciated all of the teachers and those who worked in administration who wanted us to live up to our potential. She was definitely one of those people for me.

Growing up in Cairo, I just want to say that I think you all have an amazing story to tell and I hope that someday, even though I know you are not a writer (or so you say) that you will tell her story not for you but for those of us who have been diagnosed with lupus (that would be me), for those people who don’t understand prejudice, for those people that know both you and Mrs. Newell, either as friends, family or students.

Even though my parents and sister still live in the area, I have to say that I keep up with Cairo news because I read CATTRACKS about once a month.