As a child I grew up in a house constantly influenced by politics. My dad was a member of the Town Council and served on several boards. He was rarely home. On most nights he was meeting his friends somewhere to talk about pending issues and problems involving the town council. Every Saturday night my dad and his group of friends met at Peter Newcomer's cabin in the woods. That's how I met Peter. My parents where always urging me to get involved in our community. My dad's way of being involved was the town council, that's what he tried to impress upon me. He would bring me to their meetings on Saturday nights where I would only half pay attention because I wanted to be with my friends.
             Peter Newcomer was born in British Columbia. He earned his PhD in Anthropology at Yale University and also served in Vietnam. Peter moved back to Mansfield to live with Ayla Kardastuncer whom he was in love with. In Mansfield Peter built a log cabin where he hunted, raised chickens, grew marijuana, and lived out the rest of his life with Ayla. He was always the most involved and excited person at the meetings. He had the most liberal views on everything, which often caused clashes between him and other members of the group. No one ever walked out of the meetings; no matter how mad they were, because even if you didn't agree with Peter's opinions there was always something you could learn from him.
             I never knew Peter very closely. When I went to the Saturday night meetings I didn't involve myself in the conversations, but I did observe what was going on around me. I saw how Peter never let anyone influence his opinions through force or negative persuasion, yet he was always interested in others opinions, and never discarded. I heard everyone else talking about how they wanted to protest something, or write a petition. Everyone would talk about how Peter was gone all day on Friday because he was holdin
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