Coming up on the New Year like this, I should have some thoughtful observations on the 12 months just
passed, or some wisdom, some insight, by which to begin to make sense of the 12
months ahead. Instead, I think I’ll talk about letters.
“Postmarks” is perhaps the most widely read section in the Chronicle;
no survey says this, it’s just a gut instinct based on what people seem to
notice in the paper. The central feature of the Chronicle‘s Tenth
Anniversary Issue (Sept. 6, 1991) was a collection of letters, in chronological
order, culled from the previous 10 years of the Chronicle. They spoke
not only about the paper, but about this city and its people. Together, all
these letters from all these people over all these years proved to be a great
read.
But, no such glorious agenda here. There were times in the early days of the
Chronicle during which we didn’t get enough letters to justify a
“Postmarks” section. For years, the section expanded or shrunk according to the
number of letters on hand, and we probably published almost all the letters we
received.
Today, there are many categories of letters we dismiss out of hand, including:
“This is for the Statesman but in case they won’t print it…”; the form
letters faxed all over the country from those who hate Clinton and those who
hate abortions; the personal life story, disguised as a letter, that goes on
and on; the obvious PR pieces, written by personal friends (or enemies) of some
local enterprise; and ones from those who’ve begun to think they have column
space in the Chronicle. Still, we try to print most of the letters we
receive.
During the last couple of years, however, the volume of letters has increased
drastically, which means that more have gone unpublished. Partly in response to
that, a few months ago we began including most, but not all, of the letters we
receive into our online edition (on the Web at /),
including many which don’t make it into the printed version. Here, to ring in
1997, we present some of the best of the leftover letters from the last few
months, along with a handful of new ones.
This issue also marks the first appearance of the 1996/97 Austin Chronicle Music Poll ballot, the
winners to be honored at the 15th annual Austin Music Awards in March. More to
come on the ballot and show — lots more.
Our best wishes for all of our readers for the new year could not be more deep and heartfelt; from our
family to your family: Happy New Year.
This article appears in January 3 • 1997 and January 3 • 1997 (Cover).