Editor's Note: This item was inscribed in 1988 and appeared in The Greenville Advocate at that time.

It also may be found in the volume Chamber Music and Camellia Bouquets, authored by this columnist.

His daddy was an angler- a fisherman who dealt as much misery to his finny quarry as he did to those who dared be on the wrong side of the law when he was in action.

Like father like son, they say, only in this instance there is a reversal of roles- the son is a defender, whereas his papa always prosecuted violators.

You may, if you are indigenous to this area, already know the subject of this piece is Paul Richard Hartley, Esquire, attorney-at-law.

Even while attending law school on the university's lovely campus at Tuscaloosa, Richie was regarded as one of the brighter young barristers-to-be in this great State of Alabama.

And he has done nothing since passing the bar to diminish the prophecy of success that was forecast at that time.

Young P. Richard arrived on the scene a scant four days before Christmas in the year 1944.

And thus he, along with the late Lewis Grizzard (one of the world's outstanding columnists), qualifies as a bona fide Baby Boomer.

Soon after kicking the slats out of his crib- when he became ambulatory and commenced verbalizing at a very tender age- his parents realized they had a double handful of precocity.

Young Hartley (his father was Paul D. Hartley, Butler County prosecutor (or D.A. in up-to-date lingo), was educated in Greenville's public schools, where his mother (known as "Miss Harper" Hartley) taught Spanish.

After graduating from high school, Richie enrolled at the University of Alabama, where he earned his B.S. degree in commerce and business administration in 1968.

He was awarded the Juris Doctor degree in 1971, and was admitted to the Alabama Bar in August of that year.

Since that time he has been admitted to the bar in three U.S. District Circuit Divisions: Middle District Alabama, Fifth Circuit Appeals in New Orleans, and the Eleventh Circuit Appeals, Atlanta.

Meanwhile he has served in so many capacities, politically, legally and civically that it would require reams of paper to enumerate them.

Suffice it to say that at various times he has served in almost every office of the Alabama Bar Association and the Association of Trial Lawyers.

His social affiliations include the Greenville Country Club, the Alabama Jaycees and the Boy Scouts of America; and he has served as junior and senior warden at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, and as clerk of that body.

Additionally, Richie has been national committeeman of the Alabama Democratic Executive Committee and has performed in numerous other offices within his party.

He has been chairman of the Butler County Board of Education since 1972, has been city attorney on two occasions, from 1980-84 and 1988 to the present and has been attorney for the Greenville Industrial Board since 1980.

There are other credits behind his name, but the above should provide the average reader with enough information to give him an appreciation of the man's outstanding abilities.

More detailed info is available upon request.

Richie is married to the former Marion Parson of Huntsville and they are the proud parents of three boys- Richie Jr., Gantt and Nicholas.

If Hartley's accomplishments over the next forty-four years measure up to his first forty-four there'll be several more entries for Guinness to record.

October 20, 1988