LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

[August 9th, 2006] YOU CAN LEAD A JOURNALIST TO WATER, BUT YOU CAN'T MAKE HIM THINK

Your "River Rats" article [July 19, 2006], by Chris Lydgate, was one more example of the downward chute away from liberal journalism your publication has taken. Although seemingly innocuous (does it pass for a fun criticism of youthful yahoos tromping around and sullying paradise?), the article reflects a more sinister turn away from proletariat values and towards protecting the privilege of the economic elite. Perfectly happy to engage in this voyeurism, and poorly clad in rags of social critique, Lydgate would do well to remember that the objects of his scorn and fascination (those bouncing adolescent girls in bikinis and posing boys) are human beings.

Though retired lawyer [Michael] Drais may be suffering what WW portrays as the effects of allowing the unwashed public access to our pristine waterways, the real suffering is due to lack of employment, educational and social opportunities and boredom. Drais is not a victim of his own zeal for protecting the public, but rather, his desire for quiet enjoyment of his private property is a victim of a burgeoning and ever-poorer urban population with few means of escaping their boxed-in lives.

What I most object to is the overt criticism in this article of public access to Oregon's waterways and the insinuation that privatization is a better mode of protection. Just like private ownership doesn't encourage clearcutting, but preserves forests...yeah, whatever. The point is, preservation of natural resources for the people—who ostensibly still own a large part of them—is the responsibility of a democratically elected government (oops, forgot about 2000 and 2004).

While bemoaning the chaos is a valid journalistic enterprise, does our once liberal outpost of independent thought really need to jump on the economic elitist bandwagon? Neutrality is not possible, so why don't you fly your once-liberal flag, Willamette Week—instead of acting like a bunch of pussyfooting little rodents trying to gnaw their way into the economic elite without abandoning their freewheeling attitudes? Then again, maybe this town just needs a real liberal weekly NEWSpaper.

N. Dalton
Northeast 22nd Avenue

Chris Lydgate responds: "Poorly clad in rags of social critique"? I bought this shirt at Fred's.... Seriously, while I enjoyed the Marxist bite of this letter, I'm afraid Dalton didn't read my article very carefully. I never have suggested (and never would suggest) "privatizing" the Sandy River. The river belongs to the people, and we all have a right to enjoy it. Like many Portlanders, I've been floating down the Sandy River for years and am still amazed at how lucky we are to have a beautiful, unspoilt river so close to downtown, free and open to all. As to the river rats, I wouldn't change a thing—except to remind everyone that the river is powerful and that they should clean up after themselves. If that constitutes a sinister turn from proletarian values, I'll plead guilty.

TOO LITTLE RESPECT MAN

It's unpleasant to have to toot one's own horn but after getting approached by three people asking why I was snubbed in David Walker's article on the Portland scene in San Diego ["When Hollywood Attacks," WW, July 26, 2006], I feel like my hand is forced; let the horn-tooting begin.

I am a cartoonist. I live in Portland. I am part of the local scene. I held two tables at the San Diego Comic-Con. I am currently in production for the world's first comic-book-based opera (as mentioned in WW, running Sept. 22-30, tickets through Ticketmaster). I draw a weekly comic strip called How to Be Happy that's syndicated to over a dozen alternative weekly newspapers (Austin, Spokane, Eugene, Boston and others). I also draw a comic strip called Postage Stamp Sized Funnies for the print version of The Onion. I published a humor magazine called Too Much Coffee Man for six years for which I employed mostly local talent. I drew Too Much Coffee Man as a comic book for seven years previous to that. I've even won an Eisner, the most significant award in comics. I've taught a cartooning classes at Portland Community College. I've talked at Pacific Northwest College of Art. I've volunteered at the Independent Publishing Resource Center. Every year, I hold a table at the Zine Symposium and the Stumptown Comics Fest.

It's awful having to talk oneself up...but please don't edit me out of the local scene. This is my home, and I love it here.

PS: I forgot to mention that I have six graphic novels; Amusing Musings, Parade of Tirade, Guide for the Perplexed, Wake Up and Smell the Cartoons, and Children with Glue.

Shannon Wheeler
Best known for his comic Too Much Coffee Man...
Portland