December 3: Frederick Talbott column: Saving Petersburg (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

It was no surprise to recently read that Petersburg, Virginia — my birthplace — is on the ropes again. Massive debt, crippled schools and related mayhem consume what had been a pre-Civil War economic powerhouse.

I and most friends fled the city when we turned 18. For most of my life I believed it was the negativity and sense of pervasive loss and sorrow there that launched us.

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