Reader Feedback 5.21.03

Creating hope

“Ain’t Studying War No More” (April 16) prompted
me to think about families, activism, and my own childhood. Somewhat like
writer Jennifer Loviglio, I grew up near Boston, in the ’60s, with parents who
became activists.

                  In
New England, there is quite a tradition of active citizenship. I have fond
memories, from around first grade, of our family joining the local Patriots’
Day march to the Concord Bridge. Every April 19, people from the surrounding
area would retrace the routes followed by the Minutemen on their way to the
first victory of the American Revolution. All along the way — several miles
— small groups would meet and merge. Eventually the ranks would swell and the
roads would fill as we approached our destination.

                  A few
years later, the whole family marched in Washington, DC, with thousands of
other Americans, to protest the Vietnam War. It seemed like a natural step.
While I can’t say I actually understood all that the protest was about, I feel
privileged to have been a participant in the history of the times, and proud of
my parents for thinking enough of us and caring enough about the world to get
involved. Their involvement — working with individuals, communities, and
movements to promote a more kind and just world — continued from there.

                  The
world’s troubles can seem overwhelming, especially to someone raising children,
but as I see it, responding to a troubled world and responsible parenthood are
anything but mutually exclusive. For adults, action can help to overcome the
anxiety, despair, and frustration that may otherwise beset them.

                  Hope
is an active thing, which, like freedom, must be exercised. For children,
knowing that adults have an ability and willingness to respond to injustices in
the world — injustices that children may very well perceive and feel helpless
to do anything about — can help children to feel (and be) more secure than
efforts to insulate the family. Seeing parents as part of a thoughtful,
compassionate community gives children a broader sense of possibility and
stability.

                  The
times call for involvement and stretching ourselves beyond our private
concerns. Insulating ourselves while our country is bombing innocent families
in other countries (not to mention the domestic scene) does not protect but
diminishes who we are.

                  Resistance
is not futile; it is necessary and humanizing. Besides protests (and can you
honestly believe there won’t be more to protest after this?), there are
countless things, personal and public, that one can do — to make the world a
little better, to embody a better world in oneself and one’s relations.

                  Writing
can help; using it to rationalize retreat and isolation strikes me as
counterproductive and unempowering for all involved: not what I expect from a
star columnist in an alternative weekly.

                  (Along
those lines, I would like to commend Jack Spula for tirelessly, and in the face
of slings and arrows, maintaining a voice of intelligent concern, one that
dares to imagine individuals and communities empowered by knowledge and action
— implying hope, against all odds, of a more fair, beautiful and
compassionate world.)

                  Jim Mott, Rochester

Honoring Fitts

Interfaith Advocates for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender people wish to acknowledge publicly and with gratitude the
dedicated and effective leadership of Nancy Eckerson Fitts. She has been its
leader since IA’s formation in October 1991. She is now stepping down as its
chair.

                  She
has been instrumental in bringing together many faith communities to work for
justice for LGBT people. IA’s purpose states: “As members of faith communities
we seek increased awareness, understanding, and inclusion by our congregations
and by the larger community of LGBT people.”

                  IA
includes members from Protestant denominations, Roman Catholic, Reform Jewish,
Unitarian-Universalist, and Society of Friends faith communities.

                  James M. Stewart, Rochester (Stewart is
co-chair of Interfaith Advocates and sent the letter on behalf of all IA
members.)

Lovin’ the Eggplant

A friend invited me to lunch one day; I couldn’t make it, so
later that afternoon he left me a voicemail describing the menu of what he had
eaten. It sounded amazing. He’d said I’d be sorry I couldn’t go, and he was
right.

                  I
first visited the Atomic Eggplant during the ice storm (no electricity; no
dinner over here). What an exciting surprise! Dinner was so delicious that my
friend and I went back the following night, since there was still no
electricity at home.

                  Since
then we have gone back three or four more times, each time bringing friends
along, and have heartily recommended it to just about everyone we talk to.

                  Your
recent review is just one person’s opinion (“Pleasin’ the Vegans,” Gut
Instincts, April 30). Let me tell you and your readership that everybody I know
who’s been there raves about the quality and the creativity of the food.

                  The
wait-staff is excellent and the chef is gracious and talented. If I could cook
like she does and make vegetables taste like something I’d become a
vegetarian/vegan.

                  In
the meanwhile, I’ll just eat at the Atomic Eggplant and continue to recommend
it to the world.

                  Deb Messmer, Hickory Street, Rochester

                  Editor’s note: For the record, our Gut
Instinct review was highly complimentary, both about the food and about
owner-chef Meg Davis.

Spoke too soon

I want to congratulate you: City Newspaper has finally grown up. For the past several weeks I
have read with pleasure the many letters-to-the-editor published “as is.”
Absent are the awful “You’re full of shit, and here’s why” rebuttals that, once
upon a time, followed every letter that took a stance contrary to yours.

                  Thank
you! It’s refreshing and makes my City
Newspaper experience much more enjoyable.

                  Keep
up the good work and the self-restraint.

                  Kim Eastman, Oxford Street, Rochester

                  From the editors: Actually, we haven’t
changed our policy. We don’t respond to all letters, but we do respond to some.
Readers continue to be divided on our policy — as do some of our writers.
(Writers make their own decision about responding.)

                  As
we’ve noted previously, we believe the response policy encourages dialogue. We
hope our responses don’t come off as slamming our letter writers; our policy is
to be respectful.

                  As
for the response policy not being “grown up”: Many respected publications
include writers’ responses in their letters section. Among them: Atlantic and The New York Review of Books.

Writing to City

We welcome and encourage readers’ letters for publication.
Send them to: themail@rochester-citynews.com or The Mail, City Newspaper, 250
North Goodman Street, Rochester 14607.

                  Our
guidelines: We don’t publish anonymous letters — and we ask that you include
your street name and city/town/village. While we don’t restrict length, letters
of under 350 words have a greater chance of being published. We do edit letters
for clarity and brevity. And in general we don’t publish letters (or longer
“op-ed” pieces) from the same writer more often than once every three months.

This article appears in May 21-27, 2003.