Dear Editor,
As we are in the second half of December, when everything feels festive and special and I get a break from my usual day-to-day routine, it’s a perfect time for me to reflect and look back on everything I have experienced, discovered and achieved during the last 12 months.
A yearly review is also a great exercise in mindfulness and conscious living. It’s a way to slow down, reminisce about my favourite moments, to appreciate all the little and big things that was a part of my life in the past year.
I should like to begin by saying that one of my favourite moments in the past year has been writing to your newspaper.
I want to thank your newspaper for giving me an amazing opportunity to share my experiences, strengths, weaknesses and hopes.
Editor, in the last 12 months, I wrote you approximately 50 letters and was definitely delighted by the number published; I didn’t deserve it. Of the 50 letters from me, you published about 25.
To me, that is a ridiculous amount of letters to have published. I have talked with other letter writers so I know that you have been very generous with me, so thank you.
Notwithstanding, I would like to offer some positive feedback from my experience as a letter writer, and I hope that you’ll accept it as positive feedback. Here I go.
You wrote that the ‘Letters to the Editor’ column in this newspaper, since its inception 30-odd years ago, has been an outlet for readers to vent their feelings and thoughts on all manner of subjects ranging from blackouts to road construction to minibus drivers to the salaries of teachers, to mention but a few.
Editor, with that said, I never know when I write to you if you’re going to publish my letter. After writing for a number of years, it’s still unclear to me what your guidelines for publishing letters are.
I have a general idea such as no derogatory comments or personal attacks on a person’s character, and that you have the right not to publish a letter. Aside from that, it is unclear what are the other requirements.
Notwithstanding, I have had letters not published that were not derogatory nor contained personal attacks. For example, my letter about President Granger and former president George H.W. Bush wasn’t published, but my letter about my daughter not going to Yale was.
I thought for sure that my letter about Bush and Granger would be published, but my letter about my daughter wouldn’t be. This is why I’m saying I don’t understand your reasoning behind what gets published and what doesn’t.
It would be nice to give the writer some feedback when you don’t publish a letter so that the writer may know the mistake he or she made and can correct it.
For example, there have been times when four consecutive letters from me weren’t published and I had no idea why. If you let me know what I did wrong with the first letter, I would have corrected my mistake so that the rest wouldn’t be rejected.
What I’m saying Editor is, please help me to know what I’m doing wrong so that I can correct it.
The Editor and writer are on the same team so let us work together. What I want you to know is that I don’t take it personally when you don’t publish my letters because I know of many better and brighter writers than me who don’t have all their letters published so I know it’s not personal. But it does hurt a little when you don’t publish a letter. From time to time, just let us know why you didn’t publish a letter; that is all I’m asking for.
Case in point, as I write this letter, I don’t know if it meets your newspaper’s requirement for publishing so I don’t know if it will be published.
In a statement, just tell the letter writers what you want and don’t want in a letter so that they’ll have a clear guideline to follow when writing to you.
Editor, with that said, I would like to close by telling you why I write letters to your newspaper.
I write letters:
1. To become a better writer
2. For posterity and longevity
3. It’s therapeutic
4. It helps me to open up to share my experience in the war with my friends and family members
5. It’s a hobby
6. To educate, encourage and inspire people
7. This last point may sound bizarre but it is true. Writing letters to your newspaper helps me to run longer. I run five miles a day on the treadmill and whilst running, I write my letters. If I don’t write, I run less.
Yours faithfully,
Anthony Pantlitz
Editor’s note: The letter referring to President Granger contained incorrect medical information and therefore reduced its usefulness. Your letter about your daughter spoke to your own experiences which is far more authentic.
