Your Turn 5-15-03

Selective memories

To the editor:
In the May 1, 2003, issue’s feature story “The Lost City,” about the book Living
Lucy: The Diary of Lucy C. Williams, Cinda Klickna wrote, “Everyone should
come away wanting to read and learn more about the people and places Lucy mentions.”
We agree. That’s why we put Lucy C. Williams’s handwritten diary into our computer.
We wondered whether a soap star’s diary is more interesting than the memoirs
of a legal secretary. The secretary wins.

As the book’s creators, we’re privy to facts that Klickna was not. Williams wrote in her diary every day from 1935 through 1937, and only faltered in 1938, after which she wrote nothing for a long time. We speculate that living at Logan Place was a prerequisite for her writing, and that when it was sold Lucy simply stopped daily writing.

We editors cut entire dates and avoided repeating words past the moment when the point was made. Two examples: 1) Lucy regularly wrote she spent long hours at Brown, Hay and Stephens, and she tired herself out. 2) Every Sunday of the year, she “Went to church and Sunday School.” These choices kept the flow, but also created a thought that the diarist wasn’t writing daily.

Klickna shared our sense of wonder that the small, capital city during the Depression was so bursting with cultural events. We were also glad to read that Klickna is a high school English teacher. The diarist was a teacher herself.

Ginger Harmon
Joseph Sorrentino
Editors of Living Lucy
Diary and Letter Press
Los Angeles

Another sin of omission?

My name is Don Schluter, and on Thursday, May 8-14, 2003, I was part of a story written by Ms. Dusty Rhodes [“Sins of omission”].

At the conclusion of our conversation, Ms. Rhodes stated that she would contact me again prior to this article being published, to see if any point I had made was misquoted. Highlighted in the article is a quote featured from me stating, “I was just telling them there’s always going to be racism in the police department. Let’s be honest!”

I was asked in my interview with Husch & Eppenberger’s representatives, do I think there is racism in the Springfield Police Department? Other than the reply above the following remarks never appeared in your article. I stated to Ms. Rhodes that my reply to the law firm of Husch and Eppenberger regarding that question was:

“The Springfield Police Dept is no different than any other segment of society when it comes to racial bias, whether it be City, State, Federal, or Private Industry. The Springfield Police Dept appoints applicants that score between 70 and 100. We have no mechanism to determine any bias until they present themselves on the job. Then, at that time they would be dealt with.”

If my whole statement would have appeared in the article, the quote would have depicted what I believe to be true, and that is racism is not just part of the police department, it appears in all workplaces, whether we as a community like or not.

Sincerely,
Don Schluter
[Division chief, technical services, Springfield Police Department]

Dusty Rhodes responds:
Mr. Schluter,
During our initial conversation, I read the relevant quote to you and you confirmed
it. You then elaborated by saying: “We take people off the street. If they can
pass a test, they’re in. There’s no way to deal with their racism except with
training.” You did not mention other workplaces. We were talking about the police
department.

Radio drama

Dear editor,
I have a few thoughts regarding the recent dismissal of WNNS disc jockey A.J.
Woodson [“Canned radio,” May 8]. Mr. Woodson, you did the right thing. The woman
who requested “Sara” had been through hell for eight years and had every right
to ask her favorite radio station to share in her joy. You should not have been
fired. You should have been given a raise. I just wish I owned a radio station
so I could hire you.

Congratulations to Sarah’s mother. Only those couples who have fertility problems can truly understand what you have been through. You have been blessed with a true miracle.

Kellie Michaels should put herself in someone else’s shoes for just a minute. You cannot possibly imagine what couples with fertility problems experience. It is a nightmare that comes back to haunt you every month. In the case of Sarah’s mother, it came every month for eight years. All Sarah’s mother wanted was a little empathy from her friends at WNNS. Instead, you told her that your arbitrary rules were more important than the pain and anguish she and her husband had suffered.

Do you really think that a three-minute song could in any way threaten the financial well-being of a multi-million dollar business? Did God himself reveal the playlist to you on Mt. Sinai? Did He threaten plagues and famine if anyone deviated from the list? Give up your self-importance and show a little compassion to a couple whose eight-year nightmare has finally ended.

This entire incident was regrettable for three reasons. First, a talented and caring disc jockey lost a job he loved. Second, a long-time listener was told that a playlist created by some so-called “expert” in New York or Los Angeles was more important than the miracle that God brought into her life. Finally, and most regrettable of all, Kellie Michaels still doesn’t believe she did anything wrong.

Sincerely,
Robert Huck
Springfield

This article appears in May 15-21, 2003.