Generous American
Richard A. Huff of Paso Robles passed away Feb. 12. He was my host father while I was an exchange student in 1974. “Huff,” as everybody called him, was an Army veteran who fought in the Korean War and later took on teaching at the local youth authority. He was a proud American with a strong belief in the best American product--freedom.
He was an average middle-class American whose arms were wide open to those all over the world. Huff and his wife Mea hosted eight foreign students from six countries at their home since 1974, extending their hospitality without compensation.
In this age of bilateral name-calling, I, as a grown-up Japanese, cherish this broad-minded American. Among thousands of other host parents, he represented the great country we knew, the United States of America, with deep affection, care and tolerance to others.
The scale of Japan’s economic miracle easily fades away in the face of millions of grass-roots Americans who have given so much to the rest of the world.
May two nations stay in peace in harmony with the rest of the world.
TOSHIO FUKUHARA
Tokyo, Japan
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