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Letters

Fall 2011

Letters in the Fall 2011 issue

 

Moral capital

I, too, enjoyed Jennifer Sherman’s interesting and authoritative piece on Golden Valley in the spring edition. I winced a bit, however, at the “in large part due to the 1992 spotted owl ruling” but, because her story seemed directed toward effects of economic collapse, not causes, I did not write. Then came the summer issue with Gordon Pilcher’s leap from “in large part” to apparently placing all blame for employment loss on owl protection.

The issue was not that simple. As a reporter for The Oregonian in Washington, D.C., from 1989 to 1993 I had a close-up view at what we dubbed … » More …

Spring 2011

Letters in the Spring 2011 issue

 

Civility 

Professor Cornell Clayton’s article in the winter issue, “Understanding the Civility Crisis” is thought-provoking. However, he betrays the liberal bias common to the majority of today’s college professors. All of the examples he mentions depicting “incivility” in political discourse are attributed to conservative commentators or politicians, as if the right had a monopoly on it.

Hardly. He fails to mention, for example, the current king of media incivility, MSNBC’s character assassin Keith Olbermann, who regularly violently trashes anything conservative and has in the past called President Bush a liar and told him to shut up. The current climate of political discourse was … » More …

Winter 2010

Letters for Winter 2010

 

Walla Walla Sweets

I really enjoyed your article on Walla Walla Sweet Onions in the Fall 2010 Washington State Magazine. It brought back a lot of memories of working at the Walla Walla Produce Company, a wholesale fruit and produce company that my Dad ran, as I was growing up in the 1940s and 50s. I spent a lot of summers loading 50-pound bags of Walla Walla Sweet Onions delivered by the growers to our warehouse into rail cars that were being sent to the midwest and east coast. But your article stated that the onions were “not called Walla Walla Sweets until 1960.” … » More …

Summer 2010

Letters for Summer 2010

 

North Cascades

Loved the article in Washington State this issue, on Cascade Pass archaeology, with Bob Mierendorf. The big mystery at the end, comparing the photos from 1910 and today and showing MORE trees NOW than back then, implying that nothing was “pristine” when whites arrived is probably fine, but the answer is also probably quite simple: FIRE suppression by whites (the cult of Smokey the Bear) has allowed smaller trees to live in places that fire would have burned them routinely over the millennia. Natives also burned, but natural fire was enough to do the job, most agree.

Philip Fenner

 

I … » More …

Spring 2010

Letters for Spring 2010

 

Track to the future

What a joy to hear about the possible return of the Palouse Goose! (Winter 09/10) I have many great memories of traveling between Spokane and Pullman in the early 60’s on the single-car “train” that carried us to and from college. Most of the time we were able to sit in the passenger side of the car but on one memorable trip the seats were full and several of us got to ride with the baggage. Accompanying us were several caged roosters, bound possibly for a future cockfight. We eyed each other throughout our transit, their dark beady eyes shining … » More …

Winter 2009

Letters in the Winter 2009 issue

 

We want our print edition

I doubt that I pull up the Summer 2010 version of Washington State Magazine, though I may. I generally read the magazine over lunch, when I’m taking a break from a day in front of the computer — I don’t want to have lunch with the machine! I may pick it up some other time, but that’s pushing it. I have no doubt of the economic necessity of only putting the issue on line — I’m only glad I went to WSU 40 years ago when I could afford it! — but it doesn’t work well for me.

Ruthann … » More …

Fall 2009

Letters in the Fall 2009 issue

 

Living large

I very much enjoyed the article “Living Large” in your Summer 2009 edition. I am always impressed by the dedication of the large animal veterinarians. My hope is that WSU continues to turn out excellent large animal vets and continues to be able to recruit students into the field.

I do have one nitpicky point about the story. The story indicates that Tom Kammerzell’s property was built in the 1930s by his grandparents. The barn shown on page 25 was built in 1912 or 1913 by my great-grandfather Mike Kroll. Tom’s grandparents Delbert and Miriam Kammerzell purchased the property in the late … » More …

Summer 2009

Letters in the Summer 2009 issue

 

Celebrated lentils

We at the Pullman Chamber of Commerce were so delighted to see your article in the most recent issue, titled “Local, Delicious, Neglected,” about our lovable legume: the lentil. We sincerely agree that lentils are local and delicious and having worked at the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council before starting at the Chamber, I can indeed verify that all information you printed about the agronomic qualities is accurate and the recipes you printed are indeed delicious.

However, as the National Lentil Festival Director, I was disappointed to see the word “neglected” applied to lentils which have an entire festival devoted to … » More …

Spring 2009

Letters in the Spring 2009 issue

 

A time machine

My hat is off to your staff for what should be an award-winning issue. It was like a time machine for me. I spent many hours in the Conner Museum as an undergrad, marveling at the enormous moose and large black wolf. My high school friends and I explored Point Defiance Park in Tacoma every time our basketball team made it to the state tournament. Your article, “Rethinking the fundamentals,” is a classic. I can’t agree more that we need to rethink the way we farm. I’m glad you had as much fun with Shepherd’s Grains’ co-owner Fred Fleming as I … » More …