Love-Hate Mail

Regarding retarding respectUntil recently, it seemed the Scene really got it, demonstrating a compassionate alliance with the disability community, especially those in public schools. But after the second infraction in two weeks, I’m wondering. And disappointed.

In your article on Bonnaroo preparedness (“Crazy Train,” June 12), you caution attendees to avoid passing out and having to remove Facebook photos of themselves with “I Am Retarded” written with a Sharpie on their face. Funny. Not. This is precisely why minority groups like ours have to keep changing what we are called, because clinical or skin color references become culturally derogatory. Remember, there are people who have mental retardation (i.e., intellectual disabilities). It’s not a joke. They are human beings worthy of dignity and respect. Just because others joke about it, you, as the media, don’t have to. Remember to respect us with your choice of language, or better yet, don’t perpetuate degrading terms and perceptions. Please.LEISA A. HAMMETTlahammett@comcast.net (Bellevue)

Leave Hal Needham out of itSay, imagine that: A play (or movie, skit, commercial, billboard, computer game, ad infinitum) exposing fundamentalists as hypocrites (“The Fundamental Question,” June 12). How brave, how fresh, how original. OK, if this is the first play this reviewer has ever seen, maybe he can be forgiven, but if he is over the age of 5—please. If there’s a more tired cliché in media than the Elmer Gantry preacher, I don’t want to meet it. I’m not saying they’re not out there, or even that a play with a plotline that’s been done a few billion times can’t be entertaining, but the reviewer trying to pass it off as fresh boggles the mind. It’s about on par with saying that the car chase in Smokey and the Bandit was breakthrough cinema. Again, this may be the greatest play of all time, but fresh it is not. If you want fresh, original and daring, try doing a play about a conservative preacher who is loved by all and secretly goes down and helps out at the mission with his loving family. However you might feel about the plausibility of the story, that would be some groundbreaking theater.GLENN YATESglenn.yates@hcahealthcare.com (Nashville)Collector with zealI read your recent article on Randy Piper and thought it was a well-balanced article (“Gettin’ Jacked Big Time,” May 29). I do not know Randy and have not dealt with him, but my heart goes out to him.

I am writing this email to tell you a bit about why I collect Jack Daniel’s. I met an American who was touring New Zealand in 1991. One night he pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and shared a drink with me. From that moment, I fell in love. I started to write to the distillery and collect a few bits that New Zealand had.

I like what it stands for: real honest and old-school values; that good things take time. Over the years, my collection has grown, and so have the friends I have made around the world. These are good people who just love to collect. About five years ago, I found out I had a heart condition and now can no longer drink alcohol. That has not stopped me from collecting and trying to fulfill my dream of visiting Tennessee to see the distillery in person.

I have a website, kiwijack.co.nz, and organize events for collectors in New Zealand. All of these people are as passionate about collecting as myself. The laws in Tennessee should be reviewed so that collectors are not penalized for doing something they love.BRIAN REIDtokboy19@xtra.co.nz (New Zealand)

Round of friendsI am very pleased with the story about Randy Piper (“Gettin’ Jacked Big Time,” May 29). Randy is a good friend of mine. We met five years ago at Frank Bobo’s first bottle signing. Randy and his wife Renee are very fine people and don’t deserve any of this. I have stayed at his house many times, and he’s been to mine here in South Carolina. I lived in Nashville several years ago, and when I go to the distillery, it’s like going back home.

Randy and I became friends because of our common love for the history of Jack Daniel’s and our interest in collecting the hard-to-find items that are a part of the history of Jack Daniel’s. My collection is nowhere near that of his, but I think that in all the time of collecting Jack, the best items I’ve found are something you can’t buy or trade. It’s the many friends I have met like Randy and Renee Piper, Jimmy Bedford and his wife Mrs. Emily, and all the great people at the distillery and around the town of Lynchburg. Thanks for telling his side of the story.DARRELL BAILEYget2thefun3@yahoo.com (Simpsonville, S.C.)

CorrectionIn last week’s issue, we ran a photo of Kaaren Hirshowitz Engel’s “Sacred Text” upside down. The Scene regrets the error.