Free Republic

The Campbell Soup Co. executive who was behind the enduring brands SpaghettiOs and Chunky Soup has died. Donald Goerke (GUHR'-kee) was 83. A Campbell spokesman confirmed that Goerke died of heart failure Sunday at his home in Delran in southern New Jersey. Goerke was marketing research director of Campbell's Franco-American line in the early 1960s when his group started dreaming up pasta in shapes that would appeal to kids. He chose the o's. They were marketed with the unforgettable tagline, "Uh-oh, SpaghettiOs." Later, he helped introduce Chunky Soup, a hearty ready-to-serve soup that stood out from the company's traditional line...

Frederick Levesque was just a child in Old Town, Me., when teachers told him to become Fred Bishop, changing his name to its English translation to conceal that he was French-American. Cleo Ouellette's school in Frenchville made her write "I will not speak French" over and over if she uttered so much as a "oui" or "non" — and rewarded students with extra recess if they ratted out French-speaking classmates. And Howard Paradis, a teacher in Madawaska forced to reprimand French-speaking students, made the painful decision not to teach French to his own children. "I wasn't going to put my...

<p>NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- French bashing has even cropped up in Louisiana, the bastion of Cajun and Creole culture where "freedom fries" were out of the question when French President Jacques Chirac refused to back the war in Iraq.</p> <p>Now, however, a movement has sprung up to stop a Dec. 20 visit by Chirac. There are reports of harassment of French teachers, and the links to the French have become an issue in the state's attempt to capitalize on the bicentennial celebration of the Louisiana Purchase.</p>