Love the letters
Dear Editor:
I have been writing letters to the Methow Valley News going back to the days of the fight to stop the Early Winters ski resort. I was then vice-president of Friends of the Methow. It was a west side nonprofit that was supporting the Methow Valley Citizens Council in the successful attempt to stop the resort.
All that was long before Don Nelson arrived at this newspaper and long before I became a full-time Methow resident. It was also before I became a regular letter writer. It was in June 2013 that I began writing a letter every month. To date, that is 103 letters over 8 1/2 years, assuming my math is correct. I just took a look at some of my old letters. Many covered important but lesser-known political issues. An early favorite of mine debunked a false claim about the Magna Carta. The writer said it gave him the right to kill any animal that passed over his property, even endangered species. Of course, that was false.
But what I also learned in researching the Magna Carta was that it was mostly pork-barrel legislation: For example, which duke or bishop would get which lands or monies. Important things like the right to a trial by jury of one’s peers were just a small part.
My June 2013 letter replied to a letter filled with “half truths and misleading statements about the supposed dangers of smoking marijuana.” The writer relied on questionable (or made up) studies showing that marijuana had the same harmful health effects as cigarettes.
That was when it looked like the big cigarette companies might be going into the marijuana business. I mentioned all the additives they used to make cigarettes more addictive and to penetrate deeper into smokers’ lungs. I ended that letter with a “buy local” encouragement for marijuana. And so far, that seems to be what most buyers do.
I see writing letters based on fact as a public service, and one that is also fun. Try it sometime!
Randy Brook
Twisp
