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Vox Populi
Comments, Critques, Response
Don't like what you've read? Agree fully with what's been said? Get it out of your head and in to
Inditer.com - Simply click on the Inditer.com in bold....lo and behold...an email form waiting for you to send your response
to the editor. It's not new, nor improved.
May 22, 2001
To: Rosemary Bowery
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Re: Sparky
Dear Rosemary and Bill,
What a story! Only from Rosemary do we get such stuff as makes the bells tin-a-ling go off in the halls of remembrance. I'm crying right now...how the dickens Rosemary ... do you do that?
You are pushing seven decades and you even get more stuff on our story plate. How the dickens?
Oh, that little girl! Those wonderful wonderful folks .....
May 21, 2001
To: Rosemary Bowery
From: Dezarhea Neeley
Re: Sparky
When do we find out what happened to Lula Mae?
Ed Note: I am as curious as you are. Why don't you write an email and ask the author?
May 19, 2001
To: Donald Grant DeMan
To: The Editor
From: John F. Clennan
Re: Cult of Discipline, DeMan, the editor, et al, &etc
Dear Bill: Thank you for taking the time with cult. It is a based on a true story which is even wierder than this version of it. I was concerned you might find it risky.
I am sorry to read of the current prognosis. There is little to say that isn't trite or pro forma. I think of your work with egomaniac would be writers like m'self as a monumental accomplishment for a person in the pink of health. Your Goddfather (Wm. L. Mackenzie King) did leave you with one talent....tact, diplomacy & balance.
But lest you feel life has become miserable, think of all the people you've brought together under one Inditer, Cecil Rhodes never accomplished so much notwithstanding the Rhodes scholarship (look who is most famous for that---ugh I shudder): And Canadian Nationalism? I think Donald Grant DeMan deserves to be called the Canadian O'henry. And didn't Inditer give Grant the opportunity to develop that Canadian style?
You might tell Donald Grant he need not fly the maple leaf to prove it.
Promoting literacy in the US, falling astray into a patois of jive and Canadian nationalism at the same time, those are two feats even MacLeans cannot credit themselves with.
So in the gloom of false modesty please allow those feats to cheer you.
Cheers
Ed Note: Thank you John for encouraging and kind words during trying times. I concur with your comments about Donald Grant DeMan and his worthiness to be named Canada's O'Henry.....but much rather would I see him named Canada's DeMan! I disagree with the US Parochial ideology that men and women of talent and ability who do not come from the US, must therefore have their counterpart or alter-ego in the United States of America. We certainly would not call John Clennan Canada's Donald Grant DeMan, for John Clennan belongs to his own country, just as DeMan will be a Canadian icon. But, to ask him not to fly the Maple Leaf to prove it, I shall not do. You in the USA are often accused of breast beating and waving of flags in excess. We in Canada have a tendency to hide our light under a bushel. One of our National Holidays falls on Monday .... Victoria Day .... named for, like my city, Queen Victoria. This very instant I shall set down my quill to hoist our Maple Leaf, at the same time encourage my neighbours and fellow Canadians to do the same. It is full well time for us to shout, "We Are Canadians" subservient to none!
May 19, 2001
To: John F. Clennan
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Re: Cult of Discipline
Dear Bill and John:
Smashing story and so well-written with a grit of wonder and - what all is really going on. Once more we are well-reminded to refrain from writing and speaking..."'in such circumlocution I couldn't understand myself." Broom's confident smile returned. "I did enjoy reading your Cult of Discipline. It was refreshing.'"
A very enjoyable quick-trap piece.
May 18, 2001
To: Donald Grant DeMan
From: John F. Clennan
Re: Binny Flowers
Dear Bill: I read Donald Grant DeMan - "The Binny Flowers and the Tiny Rainbow Salvation Caper" oh, about a dozen times and I still find it delicious. Too bad Marcy will have to wait a month or so for that supper. But I'm glad to see Binny intends new auroras in his future cretinism. Hopefully his next offence will be one more clearly defined in the Criminal Code lest Binny once again give insult to the long arm of the law. It is intoxicating to read the story aloud. Well done grant!
May 18, 2001
To: Donald Grant DeMan
From: Curtis Beaird
Re: Alive at 65
The restless human spirit, a phrase that has haunted, helped, encouraged and be dazzled me for years floated free again when I read "Coming Alive at 65.” I've long believed that at critical moments our restless human spirit will act with courage, compassion and creativity. Be it birthdays, bungled decisions, blessed events or circumstances that we chalk up as just plain bad luck our spirit stands ready to respond with the highest and best. Come to think about it, every moment is critical. Why should I wait to sixty-five to "Come alive?" Now is the time.
May 17, 2001
To: Donald Grant DeMan
From: Hope Forrest
Re: Reflections (65 years worth of sage advice)
Thanks to Donald Grant DeMan for opening himself up and sharing his wonderful words with us. I will endeavor to live the next thirty years of my life according to his wise advice. Hopefully my future will prove to be all the more beautiful and enjoyable as a result.
Thanks again!
More from Hope:
For: Kathryn Jennings-Hancock
Re: For those who "Mom":
Oh . . . my . . . gosh. Gimme a tissue and the phone. I gotta call my Mom . . . Thanks Kathryn.
May 14, 2001
To: Kathryn Jennings-Hancock
From: Ann Pottle Dolin
Re: Those Who "Mom"
Thank you for the perfect Mother's Day story. I remembered again those special moments that we don't even appreciate until long after they've happened.Things like, how my mom wore the perfume that I made her of blue food coloring and soap, proudly even though her neck and wrists turned blue. I'm a mom who loves being a mom but truth be told my dog treats me like it's Mother's Day each and every day just cuz.
More from Ann: To: Ric Masten
While I am amazed every week with your talent, I was particularly impressed with "Living Backward." I loved the moments you recalled, especially about again taking your father for granted. And the last line is so powerful and poetic.You are so clever and talented and I for one am very appreciative.Thanks for doing what you do so well.
Ann Pottle Dolin
May 14, 2001
As I sit here alone reading letters Mom left, it's her that I am thinking
of. When I see the words that Kathryn whispers clear, I understand what I shall
always have.
It's the sense of a world surrounded by devotion,
Oh Mother's Love!
Thanks for the tears and the memories, Kathryn
May 12, 2001
Larry Lynch has always been a favorite of mine and the only thing I can say about the piece from "An Expectation of Home" is that it was not long enough. How/when do we get a chance to read it in its entirety?
Great work Larry Lynch....but then, "great" seems to be synonymous with your name.
My 11, 2001
I loved Donald Grant DeMan's twist on the fable A Tree Grows In Brooklyn and has
given us a crafty mother and practical step-father superior to that which
came from the maudlin American movie.
I also salute DeMan's adoption of some characteristic Brooklynese
expressions; like, "Budinsky." That's a cue word which invariably tips the
reader to an American author, typically one from Brooklyn.
Grant is becoming quite a scholar of Brooklynese. To increase his vocabulary
in the tongue of Kings (County), I provide some additional words from the
Schermerhorn Street lexicon:
"seltzer" for Club soda; "Soda" for pop; "a black & white" for an ice cream
soda; a "scared yellow" for an officially licensed taxi cab; "insurance
lightening" for arson; passe "light up like Luna Park"; "axle
grease/transmision fluid"; "peanut heaven" the cheap seats.
But if contact with American authors brings Brooklynese words into the
Canadian vocabulary, what will come of Canadian literary independence?
Ed Note: We gottalota ar own, eh?!
My 07, 2001
It's has been a difficult past six months. First nearly losing the house to fire, sweet Mickeybird died in the fire but Shay and her orange cat, Chan, did survive. Now Shay is also gone.
Shay and Chan were very close pals. We have a puppy, The Contessa, know by all as Connie. In her rambunctious five months of energy filled life, Chan is on the losing end. Fortunately, we provide several places of safety for him to scoot to while Connie learns her manners.
Life is again changing. I'm so thankful these things didn't come earlier in my life, my skin is so much thicker now (and wrinklier, and saggier, and chubbier, and...)
Anyone trying to reach me can email chardon@maqs.net and I will get it. Please don't use the reply button, our return address isn't working properly.
love,
May 04, 2001
Dear Bill and Edith,
Loved this little send up.
I agree with Edith one hundred percent, just as I always always always agree
with my wife, Diane, because being the woman, she always knows best, and men
are just pure snakes and snails and puppy-dog tails, a mere well-spring for
the mobile factor of a fertilized embryo. That said it really doesn't matter
any more.
One little thing that bothers a man most is when a woman says: "I
surrender" as did Edith Weiss, he pretty well knows he's coming to the end
of his vague and haunting feeling of usefulness, and like the tiny squeaky
male member of the black widow family, he shall soon meet his maker one way
or 'tother, hoping She, at least, shall show some mercy to his tremulous
soul.
"Job done - out of here!" saith the eight-legged ebony lady with red body
marks.
May 04, 2001
Dear Bill and Kimit,
Ho ho ho ha ha ha....another great column by this prolific and witty
commentator, who also has a mystery novel under his bed somewhere that has
left me wondering about a frozen lady...
But this is yet another matter.
Unfrozen dolphins and picking one's nose. Correction: It wasn't man who
invented mirrors, but of necessity an Aegean woman named Cayenne Unaorbit
who speared out her left eye while applying a false eyelash while riding in
her chariot.
May 01, 2001
Dear Bill,
Just want to say thank you to all the judges for taking time out of their
busy lives to judge the contest. Thanks also to Donald Grant DeMan for your
creativity and spunk. Above all, thank you Bill for encouraging all of us to
do what we love doing and providing a place for us to do it. You are a prince
among men and we are all lucky to be involved with the Inditer. My thoughts
and prayers are with you and I hope you are not feeling too poorly.Thanks
again.
Sincerely,
April 29, 2001
Charly:
I am very sorry about your loss. You are a brave soul. I am sure it took
great courage write this .... a sweet and beautifully written piece ... I
am sure Shay is looking down from heaven and giving you his best smile.
Sincerely,
more:
Rosemary Bowery
April 29, 2001
The deep contrasts! The compassionate alternatives and imperatives.
April 28, 2001
What a wonderful tribute to your companion. They give us such love in
their all too short lives and such pain when we lose them. But I will
always accept that pain for the privilege of sharing their lives and
thank God for the time we did have..
Carolynn Butler
April 28, 2001
Charly, a part of the grieving process is communication. Some folks talk,
while others put pen to paper, mixing ink with tears, and pour out their
feelings to the invisible. It is much easier opening up to the unknown
reader. No one judges you or thinks you foolish for fretting over the loss
of "just a dog". But then we know 'those types' are the unfortunate. No
wagging tails, luscious licks or the sweet smell of puppy breath for them.
You my friend have been blessed and somewhere, sometime Bean will once again
wag his tail and lay his head in your lap. I just know it.
Meantime he is probably chasing around all my raccoons who are waiting for
me. Thanks for sharing Bean with us, he now owns a tiny bit of our hearts
too.
April 27, 2001
Dear Charly and Bill,
Seldom have I been so touched by a piece of prose as when hit by this memoir of Charly's. Having lost both my little Freddy Dog and cat, Jellybean in recent time, I burst into tears.
Now we have just adopted a brand new member into the family, Murphy the Cat, keeping care to maintain a loving relationships with his birth parents.
Now we are ready for a doggy too, for Murph is looking for some company.
Thank you Charly for sharing, and Bill for being there for us.
ed note: We are at sixes and sevens over Charly's email address. Apparently she does get the mail, but the sender also receives a reminder that the same mail is undeliverable. Just so you know, Charly....your last letters have been received. Bill
April 26, 2001
Sincerely,
April 25, 2001
I just wanted to say that I just checked out Rosemary's Stuff and I had to read every one of them (even the ones I'd read before) and still wanted more. I hope she cranks more out soon. We love her in Nashville. The rest of the site is great, too, but she is by far our favorite!
April 23, 2001
Dear Bill and Ric,
Again tears of both joy and love flowed as I read the lines here.
The art work is terrific, the stuff is so bold and brave that it feels sent
right down from Heaven. Ric is totally blessed with all the talent and drive
possible for the Lord to convey to one person, and he has the added strength
of a good and fine sense of irony and - more importantly - humor.
Visiting my driveway twice a week is a poor man who suffers constantly from
his fall from the graces of life, and no matter how I try I cannot detect
one ounce of humor within him.
I only mention this because in eternal suffering and striving, each of us
doing our own stage-management at any given time of pain or pleasure, a
sense of lightness is beyond price. Such is Ric's. Such as he has talent. So
has he humor.
Thank you for this,
April 21, 2001
Dear Bill and Kimit,
Once more the genius of Kimit's humor and brilliance of wit rings true to
the writer's code. Right on the money. I too look forward to that day when I
feel unthreatened by the universe I love to eat. So nicely chiseled.
Bravo!
April 19, 2001
Dear Hope and Bill:
Can Hope be Inditer's Erma Bombeck? she certainly thinks along the same lines. As for the dust bunnies--I suggest you call them Arth, Benth and Curth from the planet Dust.
It worked for me. My long departed husband did not think it was funny, look what happened to him? We can use lots of humor writing. Thanks Hope.
Bye for now.
April 18, 2001
Dear Hope:
Both Diane and I empathize with you in this endless struggle to unmire our little compound in the woods, but you have put it so well. And just when things are at their very worst your friends who you haven't seen for years just happen to drop in. Right?
What has puzzled me all my life though, is that I can see spiders spinning their webs up there around the chandelier, but I have yet to meet a person who has ever caught a cob. So how do cobwebs get on the ceiling? What I mean are cobs invisible or what?
I really enjoyed this well-written provocative piece.
Smiles,
April,15, 2001
After seventy-one Aprils in and around this neck of the woods, one
would think I could behold hillsides spackled green with new leafage,
dabbed hither and yon with redbuds, pink and white dogwoods; early apple
and sour cherry trees flocked in whipped topping; baby cottontails, under
the watchful eye of the old doe, sampling the lush lawns; families of
mallards and wood ducks, aligning their newly hatched ducklings for a swim
in Reedy Creek; lakes of blue wild flox as far as the eye can see on both
sides of the Greenbelt walk; appearance of baby grouse under the birdfeeder
in the back yard; not to mention the intoxicating fragrance of lilacs,
- - - without hyper-ventilating.
I should be used to it by now. ... Right ? ... Wrong!
Happy April from Northeast Tennessee,
April 16, 2001
Bill and John,
John Collin's Medals...a really good piece. Five star.
I enjoyed the tale as though it was my own reverie. "The hum of the tires and the gentle sway of the car in motion late at night are a soothing sound inspiring quiet contemplation."
I loved the way John played the piece from the present to the rink and back. The transitions were fantastic.
Kudos John Clennan.
BTW - why John Davis Collins when J.F. Clennan seems as fine a name?
Ed Note: Why Mark Twain when Samuel Clemens seems as fine a name?
April 15, 2001
Greetings to all:
Happy Easter Bill, I hope the brightness of the day and the success of
Grant's short story competition has sent hither some doldrums.
I was out on the track and visited with your (un-wanted co-nationals ---the
Canada geese) that double here as the LI Ducks .... I'd gladly keep every bit
of goose turd so long as you keep the trash we sent you guys (yuck yuck joke).
I re-read Donald Grant's comment on medals. Thank you. Much parenting is a bit
difficult. Donald Grant once asked me how come my other boy John jr didnt figure
in as many stories.
John Jr spent much of Jr High School here in the office on various
suspensions. First for getting beaten up then when he took after his
grandfather rather than his father for doing the beating.
John learned the computor here and was reprieved from one of his suspensions
when no one else at the school new how to turn the computors on to print the
newspaper .
Of the two John was more like me.
I have also received much comment on the Trilogy of The Bear Claws, The
Phantom Defenc(s)e and A reason for Doubt.... John Guiffrey (JAGIU@WebTv.net)
and Dr Rowe (Mentor_rpps@theglobe.com) along with Adele Osher ( favo[u]rite
expression: "You can have as many Kings as You want but there can only be one
Queen.") (Her_Royal_Highness@rpps.freeservers.com) all tell me of the three
"Bear Claws" is the best. Adele like Grant (deman30@home.com) felt that
Phantom Defenc(s)e was a replay of "Bear Claws." Dr Rowe believed that
Phantom Defenc(s)e should be re-titled Perfuntory Defenc(s)e for the
unwillingness of the lawyer to take the right action.
I believe that Phantom Defenc(s)e would have been better written from the
line-officer's get the job done view and with the background information that
in the military losing a prisoner is a no-excuses offenc(s)e for which the
person(s) in charge pay the accused's penalty.
In an older generation which served in WW II and times of universal
conscriuption that caveat was well known. but i'm surprised that dr rowe who
was an MP would not have been aware of it.
But thanks to all for their comments.
I naturally did not faIl to miss the Edith Weiss piece on the Bosnian War.
Here in America the Greek community was irreconcilably and inconsolably opposed to the US War Effort. They vocally denounced the war as one started by the pope hell-bent on supplanting Orthodoxy with Catholicism, as one instigated by corrupt US politicans with palm outstretched for Turkish gold, etc., To support the US effort in a Greek diner might get you coffee poured from the wrong tap.
That was about the time I had my contretemps with the Lodge, where all the Greeks diner owners and staff were faithful members.
Anxious for coffee without cholera I agreed with the Greeks as loudly as I could, but didn't hesitate to note that the master they had chosen declared moments of silence in lodge for US troops. "I would have refused," I told my greek frates, "a presentation of colors."
April 14, 2001
I love this ladies take on life. She has a refreshingly sharp way of
viewing people and institutions. Continue to publish her writing. I
will continue to read her stuff!
April 14, 2001
Hi Bill and Edith
Bye for now.
April 13, 2001
Dear John:
I enjoyed this lesson in army interrogation procedure. I now know - next time - to grasp the little blue hen as if my life depended upon it. In fact, in some considered instances, that might just be the case.
Dear Rosemary:
I suppose you're happy having me tear up at six in the morning on Good Friday. What a powerful continuing story, and I am in fear of it's ending and yet wanting ever more, the poem....oooh what can I say right now?
Beautiful in every possible respect.
In gratitude.
April 13, 2001
Bill and Donald Grant,
The Arthropoda Games;
April 13, 2001
Bill and Rosemary:
I enjoyed Part Two of Rosemary Bowery's "Back in a Year..." --
The poem at the end - I loved the poem and the way it told not just the situation but also, Sue Ellen's emotions.
Email Frances Fasano Alt
April 12, 2001
Dear Edith and Bill,
Just read with intense interest and empathy Edith's new work here - at least to me it's new. The depth of emotion that author and performer displays in every word left across the page fills me with tears and awe simultaneously.
When viewing the range of our political choices one cannot be other than crest fallen as we ask, "Where have all the good guys gone?"
Possibly it may calm the soul to learn from an old teacher, whose one-time student told me, "My history professor is continually reminding us that in life and war it isn't the good guys versus the bad guys, but the bad guys against the worst."
The raw malignant sore spots of this planet and abject suffering as contrasted with the golfing SportsUte executive crowd, being two sides of the human coin, are most difficult for the mind to accept. That's why many, in their own, sometimes private ways, go about day-to-day to raising the spirits of the damned just a millimeter at a time. Those are indeed the good guys, but we don't hear about them for they don't have video cameras turned in their direction.
Thanks Edith for sharing a piece I shall never forget. Bless you and Bill for bringing it to us now,
April 12, 2001
Kathyrn, are you sure you
didn't have an out of body experience and pass through my walls? I swear
you must have been floating around this place, pen in hand, writing up a
storm.
The only thing you didn't cover was the yard. If there was only one
lonely flower eeking out a meager life amongst the weeds, Jack would somehow
step on it. Today I found my beautiful primulas hanging limply over the
edge of the pots that encircle Jack's smoking pit. When asked if he
couldn't water them while meditating in his smoke -filled haze he answered
"What Primulas?"
I've quit asking "Notice anything new" he has a stock answer "Did you get
your hair cut?"
I once painted and papered the kitchen while he lounged in Bermuda taking
R&R from his exhausting duties of flying around the Atlantic, watching
Russian trawlers. When after two days of waiting for a comment, any comment
I again asked the million dollar ? and got the 2 cent answer.
We've been married for 40 years. For the last 20 on New Years Eve, he
clicks glasses and says I love you 365 times, now don't ask again then downs
the home brew.
I'm starting a petition to have any man over 60 incarcerated.....any takers?
April 12, 2001
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I laughed out loud and chuckled. I too
have a 200 lb baby.
We do create our own monsters don't we. :-)
April 11, 2001
Just finished reading Margaret Karmazin's "OK This Is What I Did". (posted
April 8)
A really good piece of writing, for me, has a way of not just striking a
chord, but of having certain elements in it that ring true for my life, as
well as the author's. I'm left with that wonderful feeling of, "Gee, how did
they KNOW?" All I can say is, Margaret's piece rang so true my ears are
buzzing! And I'm not entirely convinced she wasn't sitting right inside my
head reading through all my as yet unconfessed confessions, as she wrote that
piece.
It was absolutely wonderful, and one I will definitely enjoy again!
April 11, 2001
I, Hope Forrest, do solemnly swear, that Kathryn is hereby sworn in as an official
suffering member in the much coveted club of Motherhood. Her sarcastic attitude and
overworked life has earned her the right to snivel and whimper in the dusty corners of
her house like the rest of us. God help us all . . .
April 11, 2001
Okay, This is What I Did - Margaret Karmazin - Thanks for a morning giggle
Margaret, you evil thing. Suggest you write a book - true confessions of the
innocent. Put out the word to all us gals for input and you'll have a best
seller. I'm certain we'll all try to top each other. Like the time I....
Dee Walmsley - Nature Writer
April 09, 2001
A finely-honed piece and - as you say - continuation of what went
previously.
Life is a continuing movie show, and there is more than a little truth in
that homily: "When one finds a door closed against him, he will see five
more open opportunities awaiting his grasp."
Thanks for sharing, Jeffrey.
*********
Dear Folks,
I have always been a fan of Kathryn, but this is her master work of humor in it's satirical cutting finest, seeming dribbled out along a path of innumerable hurdles and potholes.
I just can't stop laughing. What wit!
April 09, 2001
Dear Margaret and Bill,
What is this going on here at the Inditer? True confession month? Jeff Dane, Cailean, Beatrice, Hope and now Marg who claims to have been baddest of all taking up a position in the little box next the cathedral priest.
Marg's work is masterful and hilarious, without striving to be so. She is one pissed off author, and one only hopes she keeps her promise to commit her acts of revenge on paper only; especially we'd sure be interested the one too evil to name...ooooo. Whatever could that be?
I done something like that when I was twelve, but a good dose of episoodick maganesia done took it away.
Now nothing can replace this confession by Marg. I shall have nightmares over it, I'm sure.
April 09, 2001
Dear Bill and Kathryn:
Thank you for the excellent example of a short story that is well written and I could relate to. Learning to write good short stories takes time, energy and lots of patience. I wonder how many rewrites this one took, it was worth it.
Please can we have some more? like Mirrors and Moonmen
April 08, 2001
Dear Bill and Jeffrey,
I read this piece some days ago and quite forgot I hadn't yet commented upon
it. Or had I?
Whatever, I am continually amazed with the verve and daring Jeff puts into
his more personal work, revealing his very soul, as it seems. Here I suspect
a case of "When Titans Clash" and one Titan becomes more Titanic than the
other.
So well written, so well nurtured, this piece makes me squirm with inner
mind-movies of similar experiences. Yes, I do relate. Perhaps everyone
would.
And as we see, humble pie is a most difficult and disagreeable desert.
April 08, 2001
Dear Bill and Adela:
I am not a writer of poetry but do enjoy reading some. This poet's poem, "Measures", made me feel something. I like that. Keep up the good poetry.
Bea Repp
April 07, 2001
Hi Bill:
I have received an audiogramme from Dr. Rowe which is seemingly in agreement
with Kimit Muston's Chinese Firedrill to the extent I understand Chinese
Firedrill, though Dr. Rowe is too much of a gentleman to use a term which has
the connotations Chinese Firedrill carries.
Dr. Rowe however is far more critical of the us establishment press which
sugar coated the incident in terms of US's violation of Chinese space and
soft-pedalled the extent of the disaster in losing such valuable equipment.
everytime I take note of one of these mis-en-scenes I see the US press stoop
to even greater nadirs.
Spying regrettably will go on and certainly the US is by no means the only
nation doing it. The incident may show that the US is an inept player in the
great game, but one would not think so reading the US press.
April 06, 2001
Dear Hope:
I enjoyed this so very much, and it raises so much emotion me as well - the
seeing the strike situation from yet another view.
We lately are threatened with a rash of strikes from workers paid directly
from the public purse. Most of the wages these people receive are double
those hard-hit employers may afford for their own people.
Thus we face a situation where people with little spare change are taxed to
pay the rising wages of their "servants" who earn much more.
Discovering one's self in a union seems very wise. And it will be until that
one day when you think just a little differently than the others in your
brotherhood. Then it hits the fan with a vehemence absolutely unmatched in
ferocity to any that a corporation will ever throw your way.
Union bosses usually lack the finesse of corporate heads, and the going can
be rough. So far my experience has been that you have a choice within a
union: Really leftist Socialism or Mob Boss. I have never ever heard of a
truly "moderate" union leader.
However, I may be wrong. Though poor elderly people freezing and starving in
their rooms because the transportation system is on strike shall never
convince me so.
April 06, 2001
Dear Kimit and Bill,
Sure enjoyed this essay. I knew a Orian patrol pilot who bragged about the Russian subs he spotted. I told him to come back when he'd actually sunk a couple.
We see in this incident the extent of Chinese pride that has been a perennial integral factor in the history of that immense nation, lately - 1937 - in it's refusal to accept Mau's offer to fight the Japanese Manchuko onslaught, and subsequently to enforce his principles, each bringing the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of millions.
One should never expect a person, nor a nation to behave in a rational manner. But it would be nice if it would do just that!
********************
Dear Cailean:
Over the years we have seen Cailean's Beast rise and fall like the mercury on a Canadian new winter's day and night.
Methinks the Beast would learn, with time, to take care with it's judgement of when to protect and when to release the cherished one. Wasn't there somewhere a little saw about catching a bird, and if you release it and it comes back, it's yours; if it doesn't, it never was?
Cailean's Beast, methinks, holds on too long and laboriously.
A DJ might well advise moving to a different and quite separate groove.
Nevertheless, I love the work.
April 04, 2001
Dear Bill and John,
Thanks for the involvement.
Dear Ed:
April 03, 2001
Dear Deena and Bill Loeppky,
Apr 02, 2001
Dear Bill and Don DeMan,
Sincerely,
Mar 27, 2001
What will Grant come up with next? A marvelous piece on the Jehovah
witnesses?
We can only wait.
Mar 26, 2001
Dear Donald Grant DeMan
Haven't heard from you in a bit.
I did read your comment on the Muston's Champagne for Everybody and must say
that the choice of title encapsulated my view of all Californians. Your
thoughts were as usual precise and incisive.
Mar 25, 2001
I read Kimit A. Muston - Champaign For Everybody with great interest. I
once wrote an English author whom I felt confused Californians with NY-ers,
that the principal difference between the two was that Californians live for
the pleasure of the moment without thought of past or future.
Certainly the Californian electric crisis is a complex entity which defies
over-simplification, but a major share of the blame is on the Californians
themselves who enact laws lowering their utility rates in the same style and
manner as Canute the Dane of old teasing court sychophants with a command for
the winds and waves to cease.
I'm surprised California does not have constitutional provision for a happy
day
Mar 22, 2001
Poor wheatcake challenged Hope is to be pitied, not scorned, though that is the temptation.
Since it takes but forty seconds to blend pancake ingredients, I often wonder why some folks insist on a premixed expensive substitute. But perhaps that is their plight - to our sorrow.
This story has left me so depressed I shall now go dine on even more of my fresh-baked sausage and ham pizza. No I didn't use a mix for that either.
All I can say is keep trying. Perhaps there's still some Hope!
Mar 22, 2001,
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Kudos are great, and critiscism is always welcome.
Mar 21, 2100
Security by Kathryn Jennings-Hancock - neat little package dealing with a reality of urban life. The opening and the end blend the past and
the present, leaving one to ponder if there was ever a time when one felt
truly safe.
Feeling blue? Ann Dolin's California or Bust is good for a smile. Well, almost! There's always those who might not enjoy having grandma for dinner --- when it's literal
And now for some comments that usually do
not get any further than my Inditer diary. Bear Claws by John Clennan. I read this a week ago and have been searching for the right words. I can't find them. Thing is, I don't understand the opening. 'The prosecutor
waived his bushy black eyebrows. I guess waive is more of a
legal term then an every day type word. This time 'waive' might be a typo
for wave. If so, my mind can conjure an extremely arched eyebrow.
Regardless, the waived eyebrow immediately takes my mind off this story, which brings to the fore a friendly relationship between a black man and a white man, who for social reasons, need to keep their friendship under wraps.
Even though I read it twice, John writes above my sixth grade reading level. For that reason, I waive my right to comment further.
Rosemary Bowery's 'I'll Be Back In a Year Little Darling' has two Points-of-view and because of the title, seems to end where it should begin. My opinion - it needs work.
Mar 21, 2001
Deena Rustemeyer,
I enjoyed and appreciated your story. Sometimes at school we write social
stories for children to help explain a situation. This was a social story for
all of us. We all need to be made more aware of Tourette Syndrome and the
difficulties that are associated with having it. Cruelty so often comes from
being uninformed.
Thank you for reminding and informing us with this touching
story.
Ann Dolin
Mar 20, 2001
Greetings
This article was the funniest I' ve ever read, certainly it was the same principles upon which the RPPS (Rockaway Park Philosophical Society) based its societal method of arguing to taking an argument to its logical and inane extremes in search of truth.
lack of knowledge said the Lord Mentor never stopped me before...
Mar 19, 2001
I am hole-in-the heart charmed by Rosemary Bowery's I'll be Back in a Year
Little Darling. Myohmyohmy, does she have a way to do it to us, doesn't she
now?
With all this leading down the path to the social, there just has to be a
sequel...more more more. I beg for more, Rosemary.
"How can I jump when I've no place to stood?" Come readily to mind as one
reads yet another rambling intriguing story, "Security", by this master of the art. When I read the story I feel that the author actually wears the clothes and
meat'nbones life of her character, and then some. Another thrilling ride
through the emotional skidoo ride of Jennings Hancock.
This one really got me going. What a sweaty piece "Infinity" is! Margaret's work spins a grueling balance between what is and the unseen, using neighborhood characters. The whole experience is like getting much too close to a red
hot wood stove and backing away just before I catch afire. Super!
Laughed and laughed and laughed and choked until I realized Ann Pottle Dolin's California or Bust is
definitely a serious historic document. Heretofore we all believed the
Empire State Building went up during the entrance to the nineteen thirties.
Not so. Sometime previous to 1849 - a secret well kept. Thanks for an
amazing ride across your beautiful rocky country. Gotta run now and make
some lard biscuits. Lessee...one bucket of lard to ten pounds
grandma...smiles.
Now who ever ever believes an accused's alibi, especially when it's devoid
of name and specifics. One man did have faith in the Phantom witness,
though perhaps the witness was more of a Phantom than mere mortals like me
can imagine here in John Davis Collins' intriguing story, "Phantom Defence".
Dear Andrew Nolan,
I'd like you to know, and also the whole world to find out that this is
impossible feat that you so casually directed.(comment in Pinao Debate) In Canada it is not
permissible for one human being to own another - even though the other may
well be a bindle stiff bum in the eyes of many and absolutely worthless in
the face of it. The Lord may well have placed our hobo here as an object
lesson on what not to do with our miserable lives. Next were I to have one,
a bum that is, I would provide well for him and take him daily down to the
Sally Anne for a good hot meal or two, and the finest seersucker suit the
thrift story had in stock. Under no circumstances would I ever bite him.
Unless of course he played the piano badly. In that case I feel just a
small nibble would do the trick. I have friends in Australia and they have
been kind to your bums, never ever heard of that Aussie custom. Are you
sure you're not from New Zealand?
Ed Note: Don't get angry at Donald Grant DeMan. If was yours truly who made one long critique letter our of the six short ones above. Saves paper too!
Mar 18, 2001
To: Frances Fasano Alt
To Fran Alt,
First let me say that I got a chill as I read this poem. I bet that was
exactly what was happening at many a golf course all over the country during the OJ
trial.
Quiet Riot is such an appropriate title. Admittedly yours and maybe my own
was more than just a poem. I do appreciate the commentary of Richard
Koss,Donald DeMan and Fran Alt.
Thanks loads
To: Kathryn Jennings-Hancock
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Re: Those Who "Mom"
Created by our Mothers - as deep as the ocean.
It's the blessing that's given to the world straight from Him, a Mother.
No Other.
To: Larry Lynch
From: Frances Fasano Alt
Re: An Expectation of Home
To: Donald Grant DeMan
From: John F. Clennan
Re: Settling His Hash
To: All
From: Charly Makray-Rice
Re:Goodnight Old Bean
To: Edith Weiss
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Re: I Surrender
To: Kimit Muston
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Re: Dolphin Noses
To: Donald Grant DeMan - - Editor
From: Ann Pottle Dolin
Re: Contest
To: Charly Makray-Rice
From: Rosemary Bowery
Re: Goodnight old Bean
Re-Environmental Nagging.
DeMan, Somebody wind you up too tight and break a spring?? My advise ...
blow up the TV and throw away the paper!! Only kidding. I get your drift.
To: Email Iain Stoen
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Re: The Beard
To: Charly Makray-Rice
From: Carolynn Butler
Re: Goodnight Old Bean
To: Charly Makray-Rice
From: Dee Walmsley
Re:Goodnight Old Bean
To: Charly Makray-Rice
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Re: Goodnight Old Bean
To: Donald Grant DeMan
From: John Clennan
Re: Gangster Talk
To: - Email Rosemary
From: Dinah Neeley
Re: Rosemary Bowery's 'stuff'
To: Ric Masten
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Re: Words One Liners
Donald Grant DeMan
To: Kimit Muston
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Re: Stem Cell Future
To: Hope Forrest
From: Beatrice Repp
Re: Hope Forrest's 'Dust'
To: Hope Forrest
From: Donald Grant & Diane DeMan
Re:Dust
To: all
From: - Rosemary Bowery
Re: It's such a pretty world today
To: John D. Collins
From: Frances Fasano Alt
Re: Medals
To: Donald Grant DeMan, Editor, et al
From: John F. Clennan
Re: Various below
To: Edith G. Weiss
From: Carolynn Butler
Re: A Comedian in a War Zone
To: Edith G. Weiss
From: Beatrice Repp
Re:A Comedian in a War Zone
I am surprised that you only felt depressed and displaced after returning home. I would have been flat-out disabled. I enjoy reading your attitide, you must be one "H" of a comedian. I personally think women make the best comedians. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. I, for one, am grateful I will never have those kinds of experiences. In your own words, "I am open-minded enough to be able to partially understand how another part of our world lives." well, maybe those aren't your words, maybe that is how I heard them. This is BeaBabble Edith, and I do not have a translator. That is one reason why I hang around inditer.com maybe, I will learn something. Thanks again. Your writing is easy on the senses.
To: John F. Clennan - - Email Rosemary
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Re: The Blue Hen - "Back in a Year..."
To: Donald Grant DeMan
From: - Email Rosemary
Re: Arthroporda Games
On the second read it all came together nicely and I got the drift. On the
first one I kept swating creepy crawleys and losing my train of thought. I
think this would make a great little horror flick
To: - Email Rosemary
From: Email Frances Fasano Alt
Re: Back In A Year
To: Edith G. Weiss
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Re:A Comedian in a War Zone
To:Kathryn Jennings-Hancock
From Dee Walmsley
Re: 180 Pound Baby
To:Kathryn Jennings-Hancock
From: Carol Butler
Re: 180 Pound Baby
To: Margaret Karmazin
From: Kathryn Jennings-Hancock
Re: Ok, This is What I Did
To: Kathryn Jennings-Hancock
From: Hope Forrest
Re: Motherhood
To: Margaret Karmazin
From: Dee Walmsley
Re: Ok, This Is What I Did
To: Jeffrey Dane - Kathryn Jennings-Hancock
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Dear Jeff:
To: see all below
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Re: True Confession Month (see below)
To: Kathryn Jennings Hancock
From: Bea Repp
Re:Mirrors and Moonmen
To: Email Jeffrey Dane
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Re: A True Story
Thanks,
To: Adela Paki
From: Bea Repp
Re: Adela Paki Poetry
To: The Editor
From: John F. Clennan
Re: Chinese Fire Drill
To: Hope Forrest
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Re: A Mother's Perspective
to: Kimit Muston - -
Cailean Darkwater
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Re: Chinese Fire Drill - - The Beast
To: John F. Clennan - -
Ed Krizek
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Re: Medals - - Unfinished Business
To: Deena Rustemeyer & Editor
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Re: Making a Difference
To: Donald Grant DeMan
From: Rosemary Bowery
Re: Contest: & Party Ganes
Rosemary Bowery
To: Donald Grant DeMan
From: John F. Clennan
Re:The Sally Anne
From: John F. Clennan
To: Donald Grant DeMan
Re: Champagne for Everybody
From: John F. Clennan
To: Kimit Muston
Re: California Power
To: Hope Forrest
From: Donald Grant DeMan
Re: Aunt Jemima
To: Fran Alt - Donald Grant DeMan
From: - Rosemary Bowery
Re: I'll Be Back In A Year
From: Fran Alt
To: Various writers
Re: Various stories
To: Deena Rustemeyer
From: Ann Dolin
Re: Weird Mr. Turner
To: Caroline Zarlengo Sposto
From: John Clennan
Re: How to Win Arguments
Dear Bill:
From: Donald Grant DeMan
To: Ann Pottle Dolin - -
Kathryn Jennings-Hancock - -
John Davis Collins - -
- Email Rosemary - -
Email Margaret Karmazin - -
Andrew Nolan
Re: Various Short Stories
From: Ann Pottle Dolin
Re: Quiet Riot
