Inviting Arkansas - Index

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Proust Questionnaire Bud Whetstone
Photography by Nancy Nolan
Bud Whetstone has learned just as much from pain as from pleasure. The last conversation he had
with his late son, Dalton, was a promise and a handshake that he would fund the construction of a
much needed Boys and Girls Club. Bud kept that promise, and the Dalton Whetsone Boys and Girls
Club opened in 1999. Continuing to take a greater responsibility for our community’s youth, Bud sponsors
AAU basketball teams, helps college freshmen obtain laptop computers, provides transportation for
individual kids by purchasing them cars, and provided an inspiring high school athlete his first Razorback
football game experience. No wonder Bud, who is a Little Rock attorney and philanthropist, will
be honored as Distinguished Citizen at the 2008 KARK/St. Vincent Health System Community Service
Awards. The event will take place in the Reynolds Fine Arts Center at the University of Central Arkansas
in Conway on July 10th.
Another tragedy in Bud’s life was the loss of his wife Julie to breast cancer. Before her death, Julie
became an advocate for breast cancer awareness and together, with Bud, formed the Bud and Julie
Whetstone Charity Foundation. Funds from their Foundation are dispersed to breast cancer awareness
projects and assistance with organizations geared towards the youth of our community. “It is our (the
community) responsibility to take care of our youth,” Bud says. Learn a few particulars about Bud in this
month’s Proust Questionnaire.
Which living person do you most
admire?
Nelson Mandela
What trait do you most deplore
in others?
Meanness or being a phony, or both
What is your greatest
extravagance?
Vintage cowboy belt buckles
on What occasion do you lie?
I don’t lie and this is one of the occasions
What is your greatest regret?
My failed marriage but this was also my
greatest learning experience
When and Where Were you
happiest?
Here and now
What do your consider your
greatest achievement?
Graduating from the University of Mississippi
Law School after flunking out of the
University of Arkansas Law School and
then, against all odds, running the table by
passing the Arkansas Bar exam
What is your most treasured
possession?
My Boston Terrier Jacob, who has sent me
to obedience school
What is the quality you most like
in a man?
Individualism, as long as it doesn’t harm
anyone
What do you most value in your
friends?
Loyalty and strength of character. Some
friends have good character but that is different
than strong character
Who are your favorite Writers?
Bruce Springsteen
Who is your favorite hero of
fiction?
Any good guy cowboy from the 40’s and
50’s movies
Who are your heroes in real life?
Keith Jackson and Charles Ripley because
they are difference makers
hoW Would you like to die?
Quickly and with a satisfied mind
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Inviting Arkansas