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Surely, you know the heartbreaking tale of Colleyville's Samir Patel -- the spelling wunderkind who always seemed to come this close to clinching the Scripps National Spelling Bee title before dropping the proverbial clevis. Well, a year after his final appearance at the Bee, ESPN today catches up with 14-year-old Samir, who finds himself without a place to go -- as the Bee's about to buzz, and he's no longer eligible. Much thanks to the Friend of Unfair Park who sent us this terrific lunchtime read -- even it'll make you feel bad for not having "whizzed through 20 hours of dual-credit courses" at the age of 14 (he took them at North Lake College in Irving) or having "scored 2,060 out of 2,400 on the SAT as a seventh-grader." Smart parents too: Says Samir, "Apparently, I'm not allowed to get married till I'm 30." --Robert Wilonsky
Keep the Dallas Observer Free... Since we started the Dallas Observer, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering Dallas with no paywalls.
