A Writer
Protests
October
7, 2000
Mr. Victor
Navasky
Editor, The Nation
33 Irving
Place
New York, New York 10003-2332
Dear Mr. Navasky:
Mollie Shapiro,
a cherished friend (who introduced me years ago to "The
Nation"), was kind enough to send me a copy of a
letter she wrote you after a conversation with me when
I returned briefly to El Paso as key-note speaker for
a fund-raiser for gay rights. She enclosed your answer
expressing surprise about the subject matter, my total
exclusion from your pages after Mr. McWilliams left as
editor. (To refresh your memory, I'm enclosing a copy
of Mrs. Shapiro's letter and of your kind response.)
I'm surprised
that you, too, are "mystified" about my being
ignored by The Nation even in lists of former contributors,
since, in 1992, I brought the matter to your attention
and received no answer. I also wrote to Mr. Art Winslow
and received no answer. (I enclose copies of both letters,
which I found in my files.)
So I am now
even more baffled by the total dismissal of me and my
work by a magazine I long admired and for which I wrote
so many lead articles. Indeed, Mrs. Shapiro's pride in
seeing those articles published during Mr. McWilliams'
editorship continues to be a source of pleasure to me,
since it was often her spirited commitment to good causes
that in part inspired me to write them.
Sincerely,
John Rechy
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