Editorial Commentary

 First off, for the record, the local paper ran the letter I posted here yesterday in this morning's edition. Which leads me to today's topic:

Do you ever write to your local paper? (For those in big cities, this might be a tough call.) How often? Do your letters get published? My letter-writing career locally began not long after we first moved here, as the school district was planning a new high school building and there was a very vocal minority opposed to the plan. I started by speaking up at school board meetings defending the plan and then started writing to the paper whenever something was published by one of the opponents. I became so well known for my stand on the issue, I was interviewed by a reporter for a feature article about the controversy. (The new school was, indeed, built, and is now about 18 years old.)

After that, I started writing whenever there was something I felt strongly about. Unfortunately, the paper carries two very conservative local columnists (one of them is Christine Flowers, of whom I complained yesterday), and I frequently find my dander raised by their opinions. In fact, I have to stop myself from writing in opposition to their every column, for fear of being termed a mere crank. (They used to have a liberal columnist, too, but budget cuts caused them to stop paying these freelance writers; the two conservatives, who have lucrative full-time gigs--Flowers is a lawyer--continued to work for free, the liberal frankly admitted she couldn't justify the commitment to a regular weekly column without being paid. She still occasionally contributes an op-ed.)

I can't remember a time when my letter was not published. I am, probably, more articulate than many of their citizen correspondents, but I am proud to be able to represent the more liberal view as often as I can.