A poem for Montcoal
This poem was submitted in response to Becca Barhorst’s editorial, “Massey devastates Montcoal, WV” (April 21).
down to the seam in shifts
songbird whim
headlamp dim
dead air thick
blackrock crypt.
confirm came
open vein
miner’s risk
empty kiss.
Lawrence Fitton
Tea Party entitlements
Good article (“Tea Party and losing white male privilege,” April 21)! It mirrors an opinion I have regarding the long held tradition of white male entitlement. White males are sensing a loss of this at various levels and their reaction is manifest in what you see/hear from most of the Republican party, Fox, Limbaugh, Beck, the Tea Party, etc.
The fear spreads like cancer in the undereducated and underachieving part of the population that has heretofore enjoyed the rank and privilege of just being white. With that came the jobs, contacts, networks, etc that kept them one step ahead of the “other” part of the population.
Now, that “other” part of the population is becoming better educated, is better represented in labor/construction (usually at lower wages), and is assuming more of the leadership positions in government and private industry. And the times… they are a changin!
Richard A.
Calling the Frugal Fisherman
Attention Frugal Fisherman:
I read your article and I am in exactly the same boat, or should I say waders! I am looking for a nonsmoking dependable co-conspirator. Interested? Call after 11:00 AM, 859-XXX-XXXX or email.
Mike
Frugal Fisherman responds:
I can’t thank you enough Mike for responding to my frugal fisherman column. It isn’t often anyone expresses interest in the things I find dear to my heart. Unfortunately and with great regret, I must decline your invitation of “a nonsmoking, dependable co-conspirator.”
You see I can’t meet either of those criteria. I smoke, a lot. If not cigarettes, than cigars. And I drink, a lot, making me anything but dependable.
Hopefully you and I can cross paths someday on the water. You’ll know who I am by the cigarette in my mouth and the High Life can in my hand. Feel free to wave or say hello. And if you’d like to chat, I promise I’ll put my cigarette out.
FF
If your fishing criteria match-up with Mike’s and you’d like to contact him, get in touch with us and we’ll forward your information along.
Kent State at UK
This is an address to Mr. Becker, author of the series of articles on the anti-war events of May 1970, at the University of Kentucky (“Happy Slugs a Student,” April 21, and “Kent State at UK,” March 10). I want to express my appreciation of the articles. Your research of the events has filled in some of the gaps as to what happened that week of May 1970.
As a student at Transylvania, I remember well the evening the ROTC building was burned and the days following. After the UK campus was closed, a large group of UK students marched to Transy for a demonstration. The demonstrators were followed by members of the state and local police and the Guard. As I remember, one of the Transy administrators was wise enough to ask the police and Guard to withdraw from the Transy campus, as Transy was a private school and not under state control. Most of the demonstrators faded away, but a good number remained to discuss the issues.
Again, thank you for sharing the significant events of those sad days, and remembering the Kent State students who died as victims of that terrible week.
S. Henry
Don Pratt for City Council
I urge the voters of Lexington to elect Don Pratt in his fourth attempt to gain a seat on Lexington’s city council (“Council candidates weigh in,” April 21). A remarkable citizen, he has consistently offered, without expectation of reward or advancement, to use his uncanny skills of delegation and compromise to promote and protect this community, his lifelong home.
With boundless energy he fights for justice on both the largest and smallest scales. Never to back down from the atrocities of inhumanity, he has nobly accepted the consequences of his civil disobedience.
He has remained a fiscal conservative, publicly and privately, spending less than $1,000.00 on his previous three campaigns, combined. At fifty-five, he retired debt free, as a sole proprietor of a neighborhood grocery. He has been a single father of over fifty foster children.
He toes no party line, but cherishes the same freedom and pragmatism as our nations’ founders. Issue by issue, he is willing to delve into minute details to offer solutions for the greatest good of all which protect the basic rights of all. He is a philosopher with a grocer’s grounding. He does not shun those different from him. Rather, he revels in a free exchange of our most valuable resource, ideas.
Don Pratt will bring the same even temper and compassion to the council as he has brought to the children he has nurtured, the homeless he has fed, the elderly to whom he has delivered free groceries, and all the people for whom he has offered hope.
Scott Wilson
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