LETTERS TO THE EDITOR HAVE MUCH TO SAY
Writing letters to the editor is almost as much fun as reading the contributions of other amateur correspondents. We get a wide spectrum of views on an array of subject matter, from birdwatching to political events, sport to crime.
There has always been a certain amount of complaining in what Sherlock Holmes referred to as “The Agony Column,” but there’s celebration, too.
My first experience reading letters to the editor came in the late 1950s, when issues in Britain were equally varied, and opinion equally entertaining. Old gents bemoaning the decline of English cricket (‘Good heavens! Beaten by the West Indians again?’), or applause for that impressive Queen Salote of Tonga, in London for the Coronation of Elizabeth II, refusing to allow her open carriage to be covered against the English rain. The unsuitability of post-war young men for military service was a favourite complaint, as a new war with Russia seemed almost unavoidable. “Winnie predicted it, didn’t he?”
British letter-writers were especially concerned with the rising crime rate. The “spivs” who had dealt in black-market luxuries during the war — butter, sausages and the new nylon stockings — were enlarging their sphere of interest, carrying out smash-and-grab raids on jewellers’ display windows. A new breed of violent criminals, armed with the easily-concealed “cosh” (blackjack), were making life harder for the bobbies, and causing the retired colonels to reminisce fondly about the “honest villains” of the pre-war era.
Political comment was usually quite civilized, too. Much was made of Prime Minister Harold (Supermac) Macmillan telling us we’d “never had it so good.” Occasionally there was something quite local, such as criticism of one city councillor or another who’d been reportedly sleeping off his lunchtime beer and steak and kidney pie in the council chamber.
I’ve always enjoyed reading letters to the editor. Letters “begging to disagree” with another letter are an important ingredient, and less belligerent than social media rebuttals. I personally prefer not to involve myself in the most local of happenings, being a Newfoundlander only by choice, or by marriage. I think seventh and eighth-generation Newfoundland observers do a fine job of hammering out local problems, or of delivering praise where it is due.
I’m getting old, but I can count on the understanding of our conscientious Tely editors. When my keyboarding finger refuses to hit the right keys or my opinions become altogether too silly, they’ll drop me gently. Newfoundland and Labrador is filled with people who hold strong opinions on politics, wildlife, the environment, industry, sport and religion, opinions that deserve respect. I don’t think The Telegram will run short of contributors for a long, long time.
Ed Healy Marystown