Love/Hate Mail
Kreyling done wrong
I have just read Michael Kreyling’s defense of Alice Randall’s The Wind Done Gone (“Real Gone for a Change,” April 26). Apparently the fact that Gone With the Wind is clearly protected from copyright infringement is not sufficient grounds to derail the publication of Randall’s book in Mr. Kreyling’s worldview. I would be interested to know if Kreyling would be so quick to condemn copyright law if he ever wrote or created anything that has stood the test of time, that has become so profitable, as Margaret Mitchell’s novel. If someone attacked the Disney Corporation and attempted to annex Mickey Mouse for the purpose of ridiculing Uncle Walt, would Kreyling rally to the writer’s defense? Or would Disney, a company well known for its liberal policies, be the victim here? What if someone parodied the writings of Maya Angelou or Toni Morrison? I have been greatly disturbed by the Randall case precisely because I believe in the First Amendment, and because I believe that cultural icons are appropriate subjects for discussion, attack, and parody—but the law is the law. We cannot support one artist’s claim of copyright infringement and then ignore another’s just because the work in question may be politically incorrect.
Jonathan Malcolm Lampley
jonathanlampley@email.msn.com (Nashville)
More balance, please
Why, I wonder, does Ms. Liz Garrigan, an apparent conservative Republican, expend so many keystrokes extolling the virtues of Democrat Chris Ferrell as a replacement for Bob Clement in Congress? Why has Ms. Liz declared the well-organized, up-and-running campaign of Democrat Carlton Cornett “dead on arrival?” I am happy to see a conservative voice in the Scene. I would be equally happy to see coverage of all the candidates, both potential ones like Ferrell and confirmed ones like Cornett. In the Scene, I have grown to expect balance, allowing me to make informed choices. I do not expect the Scene to ignore any candidate, and I do expect factual information.
John Caldwell
gullyrunnr@aol.com (Nashville)
Give it a rest
I’ve been keeping up with your paper since I left Nashville two years ago and have continued to be amazed at the level of animus you display toward The Tennessean. It’s a shame that someone with your unique ability to provide the content you deem missing from the daily chooses instead to devote considerable (and continual) space to complaining about that daily. You assert that a focus on profit keeps The Tennessean from serving the Nashville community. Well, what’s stopping you, Mr. Dobie?
Fred Arnold
ursa230@earthlink.net (Rocky Mount, N.C.)
Richmond has more pollen
I read the cover of the April 19 issue (“Spring Fever”) and had to laugh before I even opened it. The article was interesting and informative, and the “average sufferer” described in the story is actually an old classmate of mine. But I couldn’t conceive of Nashville being the allergy capital of America for two reasons: First, I grew up here and have never suffered from allergies. But that alone doesn’t prove that anywhere else is worse than Nashville. The other reason? In 1993 I went off to college in Richmond, Va. That’s where I discovered what allergy “suffering” really was. I had no idea what was happening until I saw rivers of pollen flow through gutters and creeks. Then it hit me—I had become an allergy victim. The next four years, every spring was a dreaded time for me. I was never so glad as when I moved back to Nashville and left my allergy suffering behind.
After reading your article, I went to www.pollen.com. Sure enough, the forecasted average pollen level in Nashville this week was 9.275. In Richmond, it was 10.025. So, while my experience allows me to identify with local allergy sufferers, you’ll never convince me that Nashville is the allergy capital of America.
Shawn DeMers
sgdemers@home.com (Nashville)
Stick to the eats
Gee, for a minute there, I could have sworn I was reading that dishy “Brad About You” column in The Tennessean instead of Kay West’s food review of HOTchickens.com in the Scene (“Fried and True,” April 19). Could it be that the doyenne of dish has now taken over Kay’s place at the Scene and decided to skewer Lorrie Morgan and Sammy Kershaw’s personal life, which really has nothing to do with how Lorrie’s chicken tastes?
Maybe Kay should stick to reviewing the food instead of getting saucy over other folks’ personal lives. Or else, maybe Brad needs to dig around in some of Kay’s off-the-page personal activities. Surely he could dig up a press release that would embarrass Kay as much as she managed to embarrass Lorrie.
And what was with that godawful cuchifrito photo which accompanied Kay’s article? Road kill? Kay with a stake through her heart? Sorta made you wanna scream “Food stylist!” Or at least, “Duh, let’s save the food photos for a color page!”
Edward Ditterline
edward@spankthemind.com (Nashville)
