Editor, Gazette-Journal:

The name Clarence Saunders may not ring a bell in most American households, but his deeds certainly have. Saunders was born in Virginia in 1881 and passed away in 1953. He married Carolyn Amy Walker on Oct. 6, 1904 and the couple had three children.

And, while on this earth, Saunders was on an undaunted quest to make life much better for each of us. And, although being mainly self-taught, he gleaned tremendous knowledge through reading. He enjoyed reading. And, on Sept. 11, 1916, he launched the first American self-service grocery store. It was located at 79 Jefferson Street in Memphis, Tennessee.

I often wonder what life would be like without grocery stores—especially the self-service kind—or without heroes like Clarence Saunders, who invented the first … Piggly Wiggly, Keedoozle and Foodelectric self-service grocery stores. Thank you, Mr. Saunders. You have certainly made my life a whole lot easier to live. And undoubtedly, you are an Am...