By Chris Peeks June 9, 2022
Phony people are easy to spot. I don't know if it's their smile, demeanor, or what. You can just tell who is phony and who is genuine. The first contact I ever had with this man six months ago I found him extremely genuine when it came to being a man of the people.
See when I first got involved in trying my hand at being a journalist nobody wanted to talk to me or help me at all. I sent out Facebook friend requests to numerous people.
No one currently serving or actively seeking a statewide office talked to me. Except one. So I messaged him on Facebook one day and he asked for my phone number. And then a few minutes later I was talking to John Merrill.
He told me if there was anything I needed not to hesitate to text him or call him. I can text John right now and if he's not busy he'll return my text in two seconds. If I need to talk to him and ask him to call me he will immediately return my call.
I learned from this. Now whenever somebody unknown contacts me and asked me to cover them I gladly honor that request. John, my friend Troy king, my friend Bill Baxley, and my friend George Mcmillian are all like this. They never think they're too big for the little guy and I have indoctrinated that into my philosophy. No matter how unknown the person is if they asked me to cover them I do.
I had lunch with John today. Though our first encounter it seemed as if we were old friends catching up. I thanked John for helping me throughout this campaign and for the things he taught me. Thanks to people like John, as well as Troy, George, and Bill for teaching me to give time to the little guy because you never know how big that person is going to be one day. Hopefully, Alabama has not seen the last of John Merrill.
Chris Peeks
Reporter and Columnist
Alabama Political Contributor
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