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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| Columnist John Leo hangs up his keyboard |
| 2006-08-14 |
| Thanks for letting me be part of the conversation By John Leo This is a farewell column. After 18 years of punditry, it's time to work on other projects, including a book. Now that I'm leaving, I should acknowledge that writing a column has to be one of the best jobs in the world. At a cost of only 750 words per week (with an occasional surcharge of sweating a bullet or two on deadline), you get to join what my friend and fellow columnist Richard Reeves calls "the conversation." He means the national dialogue, or whatever part of it you can shoulder your way into by being pertinent, witty, original, or whatever other trait induces people to read you. The trait that admirers mostly accuse me of possessing is common sense. This is a mildly deflating compliment, but I understand it. What readers mean by this is that we now live in a national asylum run by buffoons, but at least a few minds still function normally, and mine seems to be one of them. I unabashedly agree with this assessment. . . . Mostly, though, I want to thank my readers who followed my column so long and so loyally. This includes whole classrooms full of schoolchildren and those who sent family photos, Christmas tree ornaments (a seasonal regular) and long letters on how their daughters and sons are doing at college. A great many collegians wrote in themselves, leading me to believe there is some hope after all for our indoctrination-prone universities. My best to you all, including the hundred-plus op-ed editors who chose to run the column. Some of these editors featured my column just to challenge conventional opinion in monocultural college towns. You know who you are. I will be setting up a Web site at JohnLeo.com (don't try it now; alas, it's not ready). Readers can reach me at johnleo2@optonline.com. Go read it all. John Leo is a good writer and a class act, and we'll miss having him around. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #1 Damn! We really can't afford to lose any of the good guys. :-( |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-08-14 16:52 |