TALK OF THE TOWN
Hunt for treasure is a pleasure
(FORREST) FENN, leave it be. Hunting, fishing, rock climbing, off-roading, etc., result in tragedy nearly every day. I have yet to see someone call for cessation of any of those activities. The fact that (his) effort to get folks interested in the outdoors is unique and exciting (and) is fun for a lot of people.
I have only gone looking specifically for the treasure three times over the past couple of years. And every one of those times has been in conjunction with a solo day of fly fishing. And each time has resulted in a great day of fishing and treasure hunting. The area I am searching is not new territory for me, just a longer hike in rugged territory given that I am 60 years old. And each day has been great, treasure or no treasure.
I did invest in a real-time GPS tracker/ satellite emergency communicator for practical reasons. This isn’t the only rugged area (where) I spend time. My wife knows I prefer to go solo into rugged areas, and giving her the knowledge I can be located gives her peace of mind. She also understands that should something tragic happen to me, I was enjoying the day up to that point. I suspect that no one is searching for (his) treasure out of a desperate financial need. I do believe everyone is enjoying the thrill of the hunt. JAMES ORR Albuquerque
Publicity hound is a danger
IT IS TIME TO stop the slaughter. Forrest Fenn, New Mexico’s own version of Donald Trump, who will get his name in the news at any cost — including that of people’s lives — needs to call it quits.
His yearslong tease about a hidden treasure has lured two people to their deaths and many more into danger of losing theirs. Search and rescue missions endanger the lives of first responders and volunteers involved and cost our state a lot of money that it can ill afford.
I remind Fenn that a young woman was recently convicted of involuntary manslaughter for encouraging her deeply troubled boyfriend to commit suicide. Would this quest for an elusive, and possibly mythical, treasure qualify as manslaughter? One could argue that Fenn knew, or should have known, that encouraging people who may not be equipped to handle the perils of New Mexico’s wild landscape would end in some sort of disaster. He cannot just call them “collateral damage” and walk away . ... ADELE E. ZIMMERMANN Embudo
‘Bullied’ bakery owners goofed
RE: “Lots of dough: Name change will cost ABQ bake shop,” June 13
“We felt so bullied,” Claudia Milladge said. “The first reaction is to throw a fit, but what can you do against a corporation like that?”
All the stories about this I’ve read or heard portray these local folks as the victims of a giant corporation. But anyone with any common sense should have known you don’t take a copy-written image owned by a huge corporation and slap it on your shop. It was just sloppy planning.
Before you name your new business, you pay for someone to do research to see if you can legally use the name. If these locals had gone about it correctly, they would not find themselves in this situation.
Don’t blame Pillsbury. BOB RODGERS Albuquerque
‘Doughboy’ is in public domain
I FIND IT SAD that the large corporation of General Mills is picking on a small bakery shop, Doughboys Bake Shoppe. While the trademark of Pillsbury’s Doughboy is a cute advertising gimmick, the origin of the word doughboy comes from pre-World War I. Check out Wikipedia for the details. As a word, doughboy, referring to WWI soldiers, ... has entered the public domain.
General Mills’ Pillsbury Doughboy is legally the corporation’s trademark only with “Pillsbury” in the title. So therefore doughboy in other company names should be legal. So maybe all the bakery needs to do is have a subheadline stating “Not Associated with General Mills.” JANE MOORMAN Albuquerque