Letters
give readers their say
By
George Jaksa
Journal
Letters Editor
Has
The Flint Journal been publishing letters to the editor since
its beginning? Well, yes and no.
 |
|
GEORGE
JAKSA
Journal
Letters Editor
|
Yes,
if we’re talking letters from New York, Philadelphia, Washington
and Paris to report happenings there. No, if we’re talking the
kind of readers’ letters now a staple of our Opinion pages.
But that doesn’t mean there were not opinions expressed by newspaper
readers in those early days. A county correspondent from Montrose
wrote in The Wolverine Citizen — a Journal rival — in April 1876:
“Some folks have a queer way in this world for revenge. Some take
one way and some another.”
“Montrose”
reported that a case of “revenge (I think) came in this town on
the night of August 29th. Some fellow or fellows sheared the manes
and tails of three horses” of a man who reportedly had caused
some arrests for people disturbing meetings in town. It was opinion
sprinkled with hearsay, but it got into print.
In October 1918 a few letters appeared in The Journal, under “The
Public Pulse” name alongside regular news articles.
One by Clyde Baldwin urged: “Pray for end of plague,” referring
to World War I, which did end a few days later.
William W. Clark had thoughts of war and the influenza epidemic
of the time when he wrote on Oct. 27, 1918, about “Doctors and
the Army.” Observing that another Flint doctor had been called
to military service, Clark said, “Should not our citizens as a
unit stand behind our board of health in a protest to the government
against further drafts ... until this epidemic has abated?”
Letters were sporadic until the Sit-Down Strike of 1936-37. At
that time, The Journal opened its news column to opinions, stating:
“The Journal will print excerpts from Letters to the Editor, up
to 300 words. Each letter must carry the full name and address
of the writer. Anonymous communications will receive no attention.”
There were columns upon columns of letters on the strike. Most
opposed the strike but some urged patience and faith in the labor
leaders negotiating with management.
Letters began appearing regularly in the 1940s, shifting to the
editorial page with a regular headline.
On Sept. 24, 1947, The Journal “Letter Box” published a letter
from Mrs. Leonard Lincoln of Flint, who complained about an expected
milk-price increase, suggesting a “buyers’ strike.”
“With
three small children in my family, I have to watch the milk usage
now, the price being what it is,” she said. “Also, the two who
are in school and take their lunch can’t even have milk with it
at 30 cents per child per week.”
Ed Deford of Clio was concerned about the housing situation, writing,
“For two months my wife and I have been searching for a house
and during that time we have been turned down on 11 different
places for the simple reason we have two children. It isn’t their
fault that they are children, but weren’t those same people who
refused to rent to us children themselves? They seem to forget
that.” Deford’s letter, “Lonesome Father,” was published Sept.
24, 1947.
In 1952 when Flint was considering water fluoridation, Mac J.
Zmunda observed that “Our so-called dentist claims that fluoridation
of water will cause less tooth decay. The Bible says we come from
dust and we will return to dust. We did not come from chemicals
and we must not have any chemical in the water we drink or the
food we eat.”
Fluoridation was nonetheless approved.
By that time the letters column was permanently ensconced on the
editorial page.
That’s when Mrs. Ione Detloff of Flint predicted “Harry Truman
will go down in history as the worst president the United States
ever had.” Her letter appeared Nov. 3, 1952.
On May 1, 1958, The Journal published a letter from the Rev. Raymond
A. Gray, executive director of the Greater Flint Council of Churches.
He applauded the “significant decision that was made by the merchants
who announced the Sunday closing of most of the supermarkets operating
in the Flint area.”
And on the same day, “Tech Senior” wrote “I know that I speak
for others as well as myself when I say that we want the name
of our new school to be the same as it is now: Flint Technical
High School.” The demise of Flint Tech still irritates some Journal
letter writers.
The John F. Kennedy-Richard M. Nixon presidential battle in 1960
reflected a divided Flint community. E.P.P.S. Newman wrote in
a letter published Oct. 29, 1960, that “If history ever records
that the highest office of our land can be bought with money,
where will we find an incentive for honor in ‘America’? That’s
exactly what Kennedy is trying to do with his millions.”
A letter-writer identified as “First-Time Voter” said, “I’m for
Kennedy. Maybe Kennedy isn’t completely correct, but he is more
correct than Nixon.”
But after Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Bud Starwas of Flint,
a prolific letter-writer of that era, commented in “Rest in Peace”
on Nov. 25, 1963: “Let us remember President Kennedy in our prayers
and may he rest in peace. May God have mercy on the killer of
our great leader.”
Although Starwas was a frequent letter writer in the 1950s, the
king in modern times is Andrew Kato of Flint.
The 59-year-old retired autoworker turned substitute teacher has
saved more than 1,600 of his letters that have been published
in newspapers, mostly The Journal. He has a shoebox and binders
filled with them.
Kato said his first letter appeared in The Journal in 1965 when
he wrote to support conservative Alabama Gov. George Wallace’s
presidential candidacy.
Dorothy Leighton of Genesee Township has been writing letters
to The Journal since 1953.
Now 73, she says she writes “when something makes me mad.” She
remembers her eldest daughter declaring, “Here’s mother and her
little poison pen,” when she would write another letter to the
editor.
Vivienne Richardson of Mundy Township attracted a lot of attention
in recent years for her support of former President Bill Clinton,
but actually has been writing letters to the editor since the
1950s. In those years, she said, she wrote a letter in favor of
the union, even though her husband, a Fisher Body Division supervisor,
“was fighting the unions every day.” He didn’t say anything to
her and she still writes because “I just think I have many opinions.”
Letters Editor George Jaksa started at The Journal in 1981. He
can be reached at (810) 766-6246 or gjaksa@ flintjournal.com.
