What I learned from William Today

Who is William? Click here!!

While discussing a book that William had written, we got of the topic of Cas Walker. Although it seems that everyone that has grown up in TN or spent any real time in Knoxville knows who he is, I didn't have a clue who Cas Walker was. William gave me a brief overview of who he was. His rise to political power, his dramatic life, and some of the things that made Cas Walker a legend. Here are 3 things I learned from William about Cas Walker that you won't find on his Wikipedia page:

1) While Cas Walker owned a number of grocery stores across Knoxville, he got into trouble for putting formaldehyde in his meats to make them last longer on the shelves.

2) Cas Walker's first major business as mayor was an attempt to allow grocery stores to sell milk 5 days past their expiration date. Umm....ewwwww!!!

3) Maybe the most entertaining of all. When Cas was older, he was put into a home and diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He argued for over 2 years that it was the medication that he had been put on and as it turns out, he was right. A family member returned him to live in his own home while she looked after him. She for whatever reason, didn't pay the electric bill and his electricity was turned off. What was his remedy? He ran an extension cord across the street to his neighbor's house and plugged into their house.

And that is what I learned from William today.