Letters are posted as we receive them during the week, and before they are printed in the paper, so check back frequently to see new letters. If you'd like to send a letter to the editor, use this
postmarks submission form, or email your letter directly to
mail@austinchronicle.com. Thanks for your patience.
RECEIVED Tue., Jan. 24, 2012
Dear Editor,
A big thank you from all of us here at Wassail 2011 for your support of our December event. Thanks in part to your media donation, we had a packed house at Spider House and raised $3,000 for the Kids for Kids charity helping children in the Darfur region of Sudan. Our $3,000 donation purchased 24 goats, four donkeys, 100 trees, two water carts, 100 vaccinations, two donkey ploughs, farm tools, and solar lanterns for the Sudanese. Thank you, Austin Chronicle, and all the merry wassailers who attended our event.
Best wishes,
Darrel Mayers
RECEIVED Tue., Jan. 24, 2012
Dear Editor,
Re: “
South-of-the-Border Speculation” [Books, Jan. 20]: I was startled to read Roberto Ontiveros' opening line, which began, "The notion of Mexican science fiction may, to some minds, go no further than that Borges story 'There Are More Things.'” Surely Ontiveros is aware that Jorge Luis Borges was not a Mexican. He was an Argentinian.
Jesse Mischel
[Roberto Ontiveros responds: Thanks for bringing up where Borges, one of my favorite writers, is from. I was attempting in my introduction to point out the invisibility of Mexican science fiction, by noting a Latin American parody of a Lovecraft story that begins in North America, ends in South America, and somehow skips Mexico all together.]
RECEIVED Mon., Jan. 23, 2012
Dear Editor,
I would like to respond to two articles placed next to each other on p.12 of the January 6
Austin Chronicle. The first being about the death of James Clayton [“
Bicycle Thief Deceased,” News], where you begin the story with the phrase, "In a strange conclusion to a strange Austin news story ...,” this "story" being an article printed in 2009 about James Clayton pleading guilty to bike thefts [“
The Bicycle Thief,” News, April, 10]. Your current article of 2012 is about his untimely death by heart attack at the age of 39. This is a man who spent time in prison paying for his crimes, and who no longer lived in Austin. The 2009 and 2012 articles have nothing to do with each other, thus I don't see how his death is a "conclusion" to a separate story done on him about bicycle theft years ago. If his death is somehow a conclusion to your 2009 article, this seems to imply that his death was somewhat justified.
And then you have the audacity to place this article in a box within the article about Esme Barrera's tragic death [“
Barrera Death a Great Loss,” News]. You have disrespected both of these deaths by placing them next to each other because both of these persons' stories have nothing at all to do with each other. I don't know either of these people, and I'm not religious, but I simply have an old-fashioned belief that the dead cannot speak for themselves. So it is our responsibility to try, as much as it may pain us, to remember them as if we knew and loved them, if their crimes were in any way forgivable. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Barrera family, as well as every one that has been graced by her life.
After having written all this, it now occurs to me in a nutshell – the article on Esme Barrera is quite rightly written in a tone that suggests an unjustified death, while the article on James Clayton is quite wrongly written in a tone that suggests a justified death.
Nic Walker
RECEIVED Sun., Jan. 22, 2012
Dear Editor,
Interesting article about Christopher Cross [“
The Reluctant Celebrity,” Music, Jan. 20]. I was surprised more mention wasn't made of Andy Salmon or Tommy Taylor, who, whether they agreed or declined to be interviewed, were a huge part of the band's success, and who each remain a vibrant and important member of Austin's music scene. Tommy tours with Eric Johnson and has several other projects including the new band 86'D. Andy plays regularly, including with Stevie Ray Vaughan songwriter Bill Carter, whose latest gig was attended (and had a sit-in from) Johnny Depp – a week or two ago. James Fenner, the great percussionist, who was a huge part of the band's sound, wasn't mentioned at all. It was fair to quote the gifted Rob Meurer, who however still enjoys a working relationship with Mr. Geppert. But as so often happens, the person out front is perceived to be the "artist" while the band gets kicked over the side – often after years and even a decade or more of effort to get the "artist" in position to claim (and begin) a larger career. Christopher Cross was a band name. Like my late friend Willy DeVille (né William Borsey), Mr. Geppert took the band's name unto himself, while those who helped put him on the map in the first place are certainly as vibrant and significant contributors to music and specifically Austin. They have made lemonade out of bitter lemons, after being left in the lurch – whether at the urging of management, record label, or in some cases, an "artist" believing the group's success to be his (or hers) alone.
As far as the sound of the band, I liked it before I moved to Austin in 1980. I came from New York where I worked and hung out with Steve Forbert, the Roches, Paul Siebel and others in a singer-songwriter scene. But I liked lots of other stuff, and to me, they just sounded like great California-style rockers, like the Eagles – or Beach Boys, whom they each admired. While so many in Austin hold the band (and certain other artists) in such scorn, despite their doing great everywhere else, is a mystery to me.
Mandy Mercier
RECEIVED Sat., Jan. 21, 2012
Dear Editor,
You're just not going to cover the Antonio Buehler story, are you? It's like it never happened. Twenty years ago, the Chronicle would have been on top of a police brutality and corruption story like gravy on the rice. What happened to you, Austin Chronicle?
Richard Boland
[Editor's note: For the record, Antonio Buehler was arrested on New Year's Day, allegedly for interfering with an arrest and resisting, both of which he is contesting. Buehler was recording on a cell phone the arrest of a woman on North Lamar for alleged intoxication.]