ustxtxb_obs_1977_06_17_50_00040-00000_000.pdf

CONSUMERS PAY 50% MORE FOR FOOD TODAY THAN IN 1972 BUT FAMILY FARMERS SEE A LOSS UNEQUALED SINCE 1933 Inflation keeps up … Farm prices keep going down. THE COS PRICE WE’D LIKE TO CHANGE THAT TO KEEP EVERYBODY EATING Texas 12 -“,”11 Farmers L AMA Union J IF YOU ARE an occasional reader and would like to receive the Texas Observer regularlyor if you are a subscriber and would like to have a free sample copy or a one year gift subscription sent to a friendhere’s the order form: SEND THE OBSERVER TO-name s t reel . city state zip this subscription is for myself gift subscription; send card in my name sample copy only; you may use my name $12 enclosed for a one year sub bill me for $12 MY NAME & ADDRESS \(if not shown THE TEXAS OBSERVER 600 W. 7th, Austin, Texas 78701 10251M1111.1111111111111111111016 Dialogue Myopic Observer In your May 20 issue, you insinuate that we did not run a photograph of Nettie Daniels on our cover because she was black. This insinuation is insulting and totally false. Here are the facts, which your writer chose to ignore when he heard them and which he failed to acknowledge when he put pen to paper. For our May issue, we decided to use a photograph of everybody’s typical Mom proffering a piece of apple pie, under the headline “Mom, we love you.” We then found an appropriately typical model, equipped her with the equally typical slice of apple pie \(which we made ourselves and which unfortunately ended up the cover photograph. All this happened before our research led us to the best apple pie and Nettie Daniels. There was never any intention to use on the cover whomever we happened to find as the cook of that pie. The woman on the cover is clearly intended to be exactly what your writer described, “Everyone’s Rural Granny.” That’s why the large cover headline reads “Mom, we love you.” The headline type says “Mom,” the photograph is meant to be “Mom.” It is not meant to be Prudence Mackintosh, Larry McMurtry, Famous Texans’ Moms, all of whom are listedalong with the best apple piein the subheadline describing the various stories around the “Mom” theme. This smaller headline was written a good month after the cover concept was decided and two weeks after the cover was shot. If there is any ambiguity, which I doubt, it was purely unintentional. Finally, we planned from the beginning to use a closeup of the best apple pie along with a photograph of its creator in a four-page spread. When we had to cut from four pages to two, we had room only for the two-page photograph of the pie itself. This happens every month when we have to adjust our plans to how many pages we actually have. A color photograph of Harvey Martin and his mother, who happen to be black, and three poor families, who also happen to be black, do appear in the same issue. The key words are “happen to be.” It does not matter to us whether Nettie Daniels is black or white. She is the creator of something of excellence and worthy of pride, an achievement to which few of us today can lay claim. In your self-righteous myopia you have muddled our tribute to that excellence with the same sort of insinuation and irresponsibility your normally excellent journal finds so distasteful in others. This irresponsibility is especially reprehensible in this case, not only because tarring with the indelible brush of racism requires particular prudence, but also because you should have had, through your own experience, a better idea of how magazines work. Bill Broyles, editor, Texas Monthly, P.O. Box 1569, Austin. The Van Slyke case A copy of the following letter was sent to the Observer: Mr. Davis Grant General Counsel, State Bar of Texas Austin, Texas 78711 Dear Mr. Grant, After reading “Onward and Upward with the State Bar” by Steve Russell \(Obs., State Bar to dispense with its appeal of the Glen Van Slyke case. Speaking as a former law school classmate of Van Slyke and as a Vietnam War veteran, I fail to understand the importance of prohibiting this able young man from practicing law in this state. This brief letter does not address itself to the cases supporting the positions of the adversaries in the case. Nor does this letter address itself to the question of whether or not the State Bar is in court without authorization from its own board of directors. Rather, and simply stated, the Board of Law Examiners, after a lengthy administrative hearing, unanimously concluded that Van Slyke “possesses present good moral character and fitness” and was thus eligible for the bar examination. This certification by the Board is sufficient evidence to convince me that this one-time antiwar student should be allowed to take the examination. Michael J. Donahue, 1211 Hyde Park, Houston. Postmaster: If undeliverable, send Form 3579 to The Texas Observer, 600 W. 7th, Austin, Tex. 78701