A Star Is Born
To the Editor,I read Tucson Weekly Senior Editor Jim Nintzel's work all the time. I know what he stands for and I read him for the news. I can overlook his bias in print.
But when I saw him in person, on KUAT-TV's "Reporter's Roundtable," I began to realize how vicious he is. I had no idea he hates so deeply.
Needless to say, I don't need to watch so from now on I won't.
His blather on the screen is just too much. I'll probably still
read him, but with a new eye for what he says.
--Arnold F. Rogers
Such Sweet Sorrow
To the Editor,
Regarding "Northwest Passage" (Tucson Weekly,
December 14): As a longtime fan--from afar--of Lawrence Cheek,
and as someone who left Tucson long ago without realizing what
a wonderful city and home I was giving up, it was very sad for
me to read that he will be heading to the Northwest. Tucson is
losing a great writer and one of its champions.
--Sam Stanton
To the Editor,
Regarding "Northwest Passage" (Tucson Weekly,
December 14): My hat is off to Larry Cheek. He always says it
better than anyone else, and what he says in his retrospective
is right on target. I lived in Tucson for more than 30 years,
and now have moved on to the Pacific Northwest, where they carefully
filter their runoff water through safe and clean ground recharge.
Like Larry, I left behind a deep love for Tucson, and a tragic
certainty that the town is doomed to forever make the wrong choices
for its quality of life, even its future existence. Perhaps Larry
and I will hold a wake for the Old Pueblo while we enjoy the pervasive
green and salt air in Seattle. Keep going west, young man, and
woman!
--Sidney Brinckerhoff
To the Editor,
Regarding "Northwest Passage" (Tucson Weekly,
December 14): Lawrence W. Cheek is leaving Tucson? Is he out of
his mind? To Seattle? For what? I was there one day in July en
route to Alaska. Hot! Wet hot! And no air conditioning.
I've been in Tucson for 10 years and I believe the rest of my life--in Maryland, mostly--was a waste of time at the wrong tempo and temperature.
What cheek of Cheek! He'll be back. I give him one full year among the roses and the dampness. Or less.
Wanna bet?
--Boone Jensen
To the Editor,
Regarding "Northwest Passage" (Tucson Weekly,
December 14): In about a year, a follow-up on how Lawrence Cheek
likes living in the Mold Capitol of the World would be interesting.
--Gordon R. Ludwig
On The Road
To the Editor,
As the County Board of Supervisors prepares a county bond issue,
citizens of the city of Tucson need to be alert to the risk of
double taxation. Tucson residents remain residents of Pima County
and pay taxes to the county, as well as the city. There is no
question that improvements to the courts are an equal responsibility
of county and city residents. But when the issue is building new
roads outside city limits, it's hard to see why Tucson taxpayers
should foot the bill.
Ideally, a county transportation bond program would spend its
money in a ratio proportionate to the city and unincorporated
populations. In other words, for every dollar spent outside city
limits, two should be spent within; at the very least, then, the
split should be 50/50. If half of the proposed transportation
bond is not to be spent within the city limits of Tucson, I would
strongly urge my fellow citizens of Tucson to vote against the
transportation bonds if and when the opportunity arises.
--State Sen. Peter Goudinoff
Unfair To Out There
To the Editor,
Regarding Danny August's letter about Kevin Franklin's
Out There column (Mailbag, Tucson Weekly, November 22):
This letter is an unfortunate example of the type of misguided
inflammatory rhetoric that anti-environmentalists like to attribute
to environmentalists, as though it were an essential characteristic.
I know Kevin Franklin, and he is most definitely not the type
of man who would pose as a public relations contact for Phelps-Dodge.
He has dedicated time and efforts for environmental causes on
many causes, only he doesn't wear it like a badge. Where were
you on those occasions, Danny August, sitting at home watching
TV?
Rather than taking shots at someone who is already environmentally
active and aware, perhaps you can get off your ass and do something
positive. If you want to know why he wrote an article about the
mining industry without turning it into a daytime talk show, then
who don't you ask him? You will find that Kevin Franklin is neither
mediocre, nor uninteresting.
--Kenneth Jones
Depp Charge
To the Editor,
Sean Murphy's review of P's "ST" was ill-conceived
and unfortunately, preconceived. He did not go into it with an
open mind at all. He would rather bitch and moan that Capitol
"dump(ed) money into a vanity project rather than seeking
out new, fresh talent."
Well, I, for one, found this CD to be fresh and very entertaining
and I did not bother to worry about what part Johnny Depp played
(on the CD or in this project).
--Stephen Conniff
Fuzzy Liberal Thinking
To the Editor,
Regarding "TV Reality" (Tucson Weekly,
December 7): Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon believe there should
be more liberals on national television political discussion shows.
The reason why liberals are infrequently on these shows is most of their ideas have been discredited and very few listeners are interested in what they have to say. The Washington TV studios know this and they are acting accordingly.
The real world knows that communism has collapsed and capitalism has triumphed. It also knows that 30 years of Great Society federal spending programs and fuzzy liberal thinking have brought us substantial increases in divorce, illegitimacy, violent crime, drug and alcohol addiction and welfare dependency.
Jeff and Norman, get real!
--Douglas Holm
Teach Your Children
To the Editor,
Tom Danehy's criticism of home schooling ("Homies,"
Tucson Weekly, December 14) was funny but weird. I hated
public school. I think the more options available to it, the better.
Even as a child I sensed school was a sham to enforce complacency and to minimize kids' ability to critically examine our moribund culture and social order.
Jules Henry says in his book Culture Against Man:
"The schools have never been places for the stimulation of young minds. If all through school, the young were provoked to question the Ten Commandments, the sanctity of revealed religion,
the foundations of patriotism, the profit motive, the two-party system, monogamy, the laws of incest, and so on, we would have more creativity than we could handle."
The claim that public schools are institutions of freedom and
creativity is a canard.
--Scott Anderson
