LEO welcomes letters that are brief (250 words max) and thoughtful. Ad hominem attacks will be ignored, and we need your name and a daytime phone number. Send snail mail to EROSIA, 640 S. Fourth St., Louisville, Ky. 40202. Fax to 895-9779 or e-mail to [email protected]. We may edit for length, grammar and clarity.
Clarification
Stephen George’s story last week, “This is a story you’ll only read about in LEO,” stated that a Fox-41 reporter gathered controversial documents from a public recycling bin, and implied that reporter was Julie Tam. According to Tam, someone else from Fox-41 snagged the files. LEO regrets the confusion.
Strictly Fiction
To everyone who knows C.J., and read the story titled “More Complicated” that ran in the Feb. 8 Literary LEO:
I have come to realize, through many different people in Louisville, that my recently published piece of fiction in the Literary LEO (“More Complicated”) has been the subject of some misguided conversation (dare I say gossip?).
Like many writers, I take bits and pieces from my own experience and blend them with occurrences that are completely fictional. I do this in order to make sure my stories and poems “ring true” and carry real emotional impact. I do not do this in order to broadcast my own history, or that of my family, to the world. Specifically, in the case of “More Complicated,” only a few things are pulled from my own life — that I split my thumb open when I was 8 years old, that my mother died of a brain-related ailment when I was 24, and that my dad and I, like any dad and teenage daughter, fought for a period of time when I was younger. What is not pulled from my personal life is any implications of abuse or serious misconduct, and it saddens me to hear that so many people have not realized that this piece was published under “fiction,” rather than “memoir,” for a reason.
Moreover, I would like to emphasize that the father figure, at the end of “More Complicated,” redeems himself by comforting the daughter at her greatest time of need — so even if this was an entirely autobiographical piece, I would hope people would realize that it indicates the changing and subtle undercurrents of this, and any, family relationship.
In other words, please stop reading this fiction as if it were real life, as if it indicated anything other than that my father has, like all of us, his own faults, but that overall he is a wonderful and loving person who has always tried to care for his family and friends.
Rebecca R. Block
Critic’s Crazy
After reading Bradford Cumming’s review of the play “Beyond Therapy” (Feb. 22 LEO), I am compelled to voice a differing opinion. I attended the play with friends on its opening night. I saw none of the shortcomings observed by your reviewer. Granted, I am not a former theater producer or experienced critic (by the way, was this the first or second review he has written?), however I do know what I like. The only complaint from our group was how our sides hurt from laughing so loud and often.
Vicky Grider
Anne on Attack
Why would Anne Northup send one of her political henchmen to look at John Yarmuth’s weekly columns from LEO? If she wants to know where John stands on any issue, all she needs to do is meet him in an open debate forum and ask away. In return, she should fully and honestly answer any questions he asks about her voting record (which usually is out of synch with the majority of the constituents in the district she is supposed to represent).
I don’t blame LEO for not wanting to let the only bound hard copy of the publication out of their possession. If LEO or Yarmuth give Northup’s people what they want “in the interest of fairness,” do you believe for one second that either will get treated “fairly” in return? If her most recent campaigns are any indication, the answer is obvious. The Northup machine is gearing up to attack her likely opponent rather than discuss and debate issues. Attack, attack, attack. Get ugly and don’t let up until ugly wins the day. This is an all too familiar pattern. Stay tuned and see for yourself.
Robert Rudd
Rising Above Arena
It’s unsettling but, ultimately not surprising, to see the level of foot-stomping from the University of Louisville on the subject of the downtown arena location. I have come to expect the level of childish petulance we continue to see from the Athletic Department. But it is surprising and disappointing to see such behavior from the University’s president Jim Ramsey.
This is the same person who has complained since becoming president, with some justification, that higher education in Kentucky in general and at U of L in particular, has gotten less than they want or need. So it was disconcerting, to say the least, to see that same Jim Ramsey sitting at a news conference table last week cavalierly tossing around $114 million of others people’s money for an arena at a lesser site as though it was chump change.
By doing so, he has undermined himself as both an economist and as president of what is claimed to be Kentucky’s preeminent urban institution of higher learning. It is my opinion that U of L should have nothing to say about the location of a new arena unless it is writing a big check to help pay for it. But if we, via our tax dollars, are footing the bill, it should be put in the location that best benefits the whole community. U of L should get to negotiate the best deal it can get inside the building and should get date preferences as the primary tenant. That’s fair.
But Pitino’s, Jurich’s and, apparently, Ramsey’s childish insistence that they should get to choose the location as well is more than the community they claim to care about should put up with. Let’s hope the Jefferson County delegation rises above that level of immaturity and fiscal irresponsibility and does what’s best for all concerned.
Ken Herndon
Reporting Bias
Billy Reed’s column a few weeks ago (Feb. 15 issue) about the piggy at The Courier-Journal reminds us of an old problem. Newspaper reporting is frequently biased. What Reed forgot to explain is that reporting bias has been around for a long time.
In the old days, newspaper coverage tended to reflect the political views of the proprietors and families who owned the local presses. Sometimes it was a liberal bias and sometime conservative. News coverage was slanted both ways. It was about politics.
Nowadays, the bias is a different kind. It’s about advertising. The newspapers are owned by large corporations committed to producing profits for shareholders. This means they need to maximize their advertising revenues. And that means producing a newspaper that sells the consumer products pictured in its ads. Is this new kind of bias worse than the old kind? What do you say?
Tom Louderback
KFC-Dz Nutz!
It is so sad to see Pamela Anderson is boycotting the Kentucky Derby. Being the nice girl she is, I know the citizens of Kentucky will sorely miss her and the moral values she so exemplifies.
Fortunately, for us, if anyone suffers Anderson withdraw or starts to jones over her nonappearance, we can always trip over to the nearest porn shop and rent one of the movies where she best displays what little talent she has: “Pam and Tommy Lee” or “Pamela Anderson 2,” starring herself and fellow porn star Bret Michaels.
Dale Rhoades