DATE: Sunday, July 20, 1997                 TAG: 9707180203

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 02   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: Random Rambles 

SOURCE: Tony Stein 

                                            LENGTH:   77 lines

LET'S NEVER FORGET THE ``CAMELOT'' IDEAL OF TRUTH AND JUSTICE

One of the nicest things about semi-retirement is the ability to scoot down the road when the spirit moves you. Which is what we do: tank up the old but faithful station wagon and hit the highway.

Our most recent ramble was to Abingdon to see the Barter Theater production of ``Camelot.'' The Barter, officially the state theater of Virginia, comes by its name honestly. When it opened during the Depression, the locals could barter produce for tickets. If money was scarce, farm food was plentiful, so the actors ate.

The Barter's ``Camelot'' was superb. The leads were flawless and the songs were as melodious as ever. If you don't know, ``Camelot'' is the story of King Arthur and the Round Table. Arthur has a vision of a land where love, truth and justice prevail. It happens that way for a while, but finally human frailties shatter his dream.

As the show ends, Arthur is forced into a battle against Lancelot, his best friend. The night before the battle, he sings wistfully of what was . . .

``Ask everyone if they have heard the story.

Tell it loud and clear if they have not.

That once there was a fleeting wisp of glory

Called Camelot.''

And, at the last, ``Don't let it be forgot that once there was a spot for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot.''

It is a magic, heart-gripping moment of theater. More than that, it reaches out to something universal. Because each of us has had a Camelot in our lives; a time and place where idealism and hope flourished. It's mostly when we're young. I remember being 21 and looking up at the stars and somehow believing that I would be as immortal as they are.

I smile about it now that I'm nearly 68. No, I won't be immortal but I take satisfaction in doing the best I can while I'm here. And satisfaction in believing that in their collective hearts people are good and people are caring. There is ugliness, but there is much beauty, too.

This country is surely no Camelot. Yet it was founded on the same sort of vision that Arthur had, and sometimes the vision solidifies into inspiring reality. Though I have told this story before, it never ceases to uplift me:

Back in 1974, I covered a federal court hearing in which a poor laborer pleaded guilty to theft. For almost 45 minutes, the judge discussed his rights with him, painstakingly leading him through the process.

When I went back to the paper to write the story, I learned that the Supreme Court had just ruled against President Nixon in a Watergate-related case.

Justice for a laborer. Justice for a president. It would have warmed Arthur's soul.

There is a story told about the day Nixon resigned in disgrace. A famous senator went back to his desk and wrote a note to James Madison, one of the framers of the Constitution. ``Dear Mr. Madison,'' the note said, ``it works.'' He meant that the Constitution works. And it has and it does. Slowly, too slowly now and then, but it works.

And every now and then, a hysteria sweeps the nation. One of the most famous was the turmoil fostered in the early 1950s by Sen. Joseph McCarthy. He lashed about with wild claims of Communist influence in government. He smeared innocent individuals on the smallest pretext, but people were afraid of the Soviet Union and McCarthy rode a tide of public approval for a time. Only for a time. Eventually he was exposed as a demagogue with no regard for the truth. The American people have a basic, middle-of-the-road sense of justice and fair play and it finally over-rode their fears.

As ``Camelot'' ends, a young boy tells Arthur he wants to fight in the battle. No, Arthur tells him, go home and keep alive the story of Camelot with all its hopes and dreams and ideals. ``Run, boy, run!'' he roars and the lad dashes off.

That scene and the words that Arthur sings always move me close to tears. Perhaps it is a wistfulness for all the things I wanted to do in my life and never accomplished. But it is also a realization that there must always be King Arthurs among us - people with the vision to aim high and bring the rest of us along.

Each of us, too, ought to remember the Camelots of our lives, those moments of idealism that we truly believed and acted upon. Real life may bruise and batter them, but the brief, shining moments, the fleeting wisps of glory are treasures that should never be forgot.

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