"I couldn't possibly fail to disagree with you less."
3 October 2006We really didn't mean itA soon-to-be-former Reno resident says goodbye to her old home town:
Over the years since my conception, I have watched you turn into a large homogenized blend of big-box stores and suburban neighborhoods mixed together. I have watched downtown slowly lose its "Reno" essence that I have grown to know and love, to make way for the yuppies and their grandiose condominiums.
This letter appeared in the Reno Gazette-Journal last Tuesday; in the print edition, though not in the online copy, it was followed by an "Editor's Note": "Good riddance." The next day, the inevitable apology appeared. In days of yore, it wouldn't have been so inevitable. From yours truly, a couple of summers ago:
This reminds me of an incident twenty-odd years ago in which Car and Driver ran a column which castigated the legal profession for various offenses against motoring enthusiasts. An attorney wrote in to cancel his subscription in protest; the magazine printed his letter, along with the following response:
"Perhaps you'd be interested in subscribing to our sister publication Ambulance and Chaser." All by itself, that was worth a three-year renewal. (Courtesy of Romenesko, by way of Fark.) Posted at 4:25 PM to Say What?Ah, the C/D letters column; my favorite in the publishing business. Best ever was the letter from a reader in New Jersey that went: "Praise the Lord The response? "We thank you for writing :D Posted by: Tam at 7:36 AM on 4 October 2006 |