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09
Is health care a human right?
Sep 26, 2007I believe it is, but I’m curious about others’ thoughts. A newspaper Readers Advisory Panel member raised the question in response to this week’s editorial on the SCHIP fight.
What do you think and why?
Posted by Andrea Hopkins “Fair and Tender Ladies”
Sep 24, 2007My column on Sunday was about the flap over Lee Smith’s book that chronicles life in the Appalachian mountains for a 70-year span or so that began with the turn of the century.
I have received mostly positive feedback, but two responses made me shake my head. It wasn’t that the writers disagreed with me. (I’m used to that.)
It was the terms they used to describe Lee Smith, arguably the best Appalachian writer and one of the best of the current Southern writers. The book in question is a compelling story, but it is also history.
But that’s not how some local residents see it. One described the work as “pornographic literature.” Another described it as the literary equivalent of “junk food.” Come again?
More on banned books
Sep 20, 2007Oh the irony! The Washington County (Va.) book flap arrives just in time for the annual observation of Banned Book Week, Sept. 29-Oct. 6.
The American Library Association offers nifty planning materials for schools, libraries and others who feel like exercising their freedom to read and to speak out.
Among the suggestions:
Don’t wait for September. Start reading celebrating your freedom to read now! Read one or all the top 10 most frequently challenged books of 2006. Number one on this list, challenged for promoting homosexuality, is Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell’s award-winning And Tango Makes Three, about two male penguins parenting an egg from a mixed-sex penguin couple. Also on the list are The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler; two books by Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye and Beloved; Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher; and The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier.
Read more about Banned Book Week here. How about it local libraries and schools? Anyone up for a public reading of banned materials?
Banning books in Washington County
Sep 20, 2007Actually, the School Board hasn’t banned Lee Smith’s “Fair and Tender Ladies” just yet, but they’ve sent it for committee review because of a single, unspecified complaint.
I haven’t read this book, but a number of my relatives are big fans of Smith’s works, which capture some of the authentic stories of life in Appalachia. Apparently, the uproar involves one or two paragraphs that describe sex in the vernacular, so to speak.
So what! This is an Advanced Placement English class - in other words a group of exceedingly bright, college-bound high school students. If parents think these youngsters haven’t heard similar language or haven’t been exposed to sexual talk, they are kidding themselves.
Memo to Washington County School Board: Don’t ban the book. Let the students study it and discuss it in an intellectual manner.
Fred’s in
Sep 06, 2007So, the worst kept secret in politics is true. Fred Thompson’s running for president. I tried to stay up to watch the announcement on Jay Leno, but I couldn’t do it. For anyone else who snoozed through it, the transcript is available at National Review Online.
I’ve said it before, I’m predisposed to like Thompson based on my past contact with him. He’s a likable fellow, but from a presidential candidate I want more. For now, Thompson seems to be sticking to forums that don’t really push him to answer the tough questions. We’ll see if that changes now that the campaign kicks into high gear.
What are your views on Thompson? Can he go all the way?
