A neighbourhood struggles to undo what one man did

Hes a lunatic,and yet I still feel like I need to get the message out that were not lunatics with him, said George,46. I dont want this to represent my neighbourhood.

The people of this city in Florida are taking Joness actions personally,with anger and heartbreak. Gainesville is a university town that was best known for producing college football champions,Gatorade and rockers like Tom Petty. Gainesville is a sprawling metropolis of 115,000 where smoothie shops seem to outnumber gun shops. Fanatics can come from anywhere,Gainesvillians will say,but why did this one have to come from here?

The challenge for many seems to be managing their anger,and figuring out how to keep Jones in perspective.

Joy Revels,who prints T-shirts,said she used to print generic polo shirts for Dove before last year,when Jones put a sign outside his church saying,Islam is of the devil. He called me for the T-shirts with that slogan,she said,T-shirts that young members of the church wore to school last year. But she refused. On Tuesday,after seeing the firestorm Jones created,she decided to act. She said Love,not Dove sounded like a good motto. This isnt We hate you,Terry Jones, she said. Its This is who we are,Gainesville. Were not going to stoop to his level.