relieved Maggie considerably, and she leaned back into her
chair and relaxed a little, waiting to see how this smooth-
-talking developer from California planned to convince them
otherwise. She hoped folks would remain dubious, remem-
bering Greg and Rick"s questionable methods for attaining
the ir land. The townspeople were smart. Surely they couldn"t
be persuaded by a charlatan, no matter how good-looking
e was!
Cohn continued. "Now, I understand that I"ve gotten
bad press up here." He laughed lightly. "Well, that"s
ot surprising because I"ve gotten some bad press down in
me 116Melody Carlson
California too. But I"d like the chance to explain a few
things. I"m sure you all believe that a man should be allowed
to defend himself-after all, isn"t a man still innocent until
proven guilty? Anyway, it just so happens that land devel-
opment is a highly compet.i.tive business, especially where I
come from. It"s a real dog-eat-dog world down there. And
there are those who will resort to anything to discredit a
man"s reputation. But I"m not a spiteful person, and most of
the time I don"t fight back. I allow the success of my devel-
opments to speak for itself. Now, if you"ll allow me-Rick
you will want to get that video going now-and Greg,
maybe you"d like to dim the lights. We"ll let the good folks
of Pine Mountain judge me for themselves.
Maggie sat up straighter to see the big-screen TV set up
in the front. The room grew quiet as they all watched a very
slick video, complete with soft cla.s.sical music and some
well-written narrative, that proudly displayed all the so-
called amenities of a few of Cohn Byers" developments.
There were long, lingering shots of crystal-clear pools, lush
green golf courses, lovely-looking homes with perfect land-
scaping, and interiors that were decorated to the hilt, and
throughout the video were lots of smiling, attractive people
-(probably actors). It was all quite convincing, and for a
moment Maggie wondered if she might not have been all
wrong about him. But then she wondered what it was that
he wasn"t showing. Having been a reporter, she knew that
what you read or saw was only part of the whole picture and
could sometimes be very misleading. It was what wasn"t said
that could make all the difference, and she wasn"t convinced.
The lights came back on and people quietly commented
among themselves. It was obvious that many had been
impressed by Cohn Byers" tricks. Next he invited their ques-
tions. To her delight, many asked the very questions that she
had posed in her previous articles. Queries were made about
the longevity of management plans, use of quality construc-
tion materials, legal labor practices, and whether local
workers might bid for contracts themselves. Cohn Byers Looking for You All My Life 117 -
smoothly and graciously fielded each and every question