To the Editor

Corrections or additions?

This article was prepared for the August 13, 2003 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.

Between the Lines

As attorney Bill Potter suggests in this week’s cover

story, moving out of our comfort zone can be both a terrifying and

enlightening experience.

For us desk-bound editors, the waters of the Colorado River seem like

the other side of the moon. But we still confront our share of turbulent

water. Take the annual Summer Fiction issue. We who have edited literally

hundreds of pieces of non-fiction over the past year suddenly are

faced with a pile of short stories, poems, memoirs, and some other

writings that defy categorization.

Reading through this plethora of original writing by readers from

all walks of life, we had to confront our own white water rapids:

What’s good, what’s not? What stories will work well in our 11 by

17-inch newsprint format? Which poems will track right when read in

the privacy of one’s office? Which ones will come alive when read

aloud at the authors’ reception.

Submissions to this year’s fiction issue exceeded our previous six

years. One hundred and two authors submitted one or more stories and

poems. We selected 20 poems and 20 stories from 40 writers, 13 of

whom were represented in the annual issue for the first time. Others

have almost become regulars.

Writers and readers will mingle at our Summer Fiction reception, to

be held this Thursday, August 14, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble

in MarketFair. And it looks like the lap of luxury: Complimentary

Starbucks coffee, gourmet desserts from the Barnes & Noble cafe, and

hors d’oeuvres from Big Fish bistro. Many of the poets will be present

to read their work.

But the reception is to us editors as the Lava Falls are to the rafters

of the Colorado River. We who are comfortable communicating through

the printed word, via newsprint and E-mail, suddenly come face to

face with the writers whose work we have been editing. When it’s all

over we always marvel at how much work it took on the part of writers

and editors, but we also marvel at how much we have learned. And we

vow to do it all over again next year.

We hope to see many of our faithful readers (with or without paddles)

at the Barnes & Noble reception.

Top Of Page
To the Editor

I just wanted to thank you for publishing my story and

for giving it such prominent placement ("My Mother’s Table,"

published on the opening page of the Summer Fiction section in the

July 23 issue of U.S. 1). It is a story that has apparently taken

on a life of its own, making someone cry, making another person swear

to get her mother’s things out of the garage and into the house where

they can be displayed, and some men telling me they never thought

of "stuff" as being part of their family history before.

I’ve been asked to mail several copies to the person who gave me the

furniture that inspired this story, as well as people in Pennsylvania

and Delaware — I hope there will be extra copies at the party!

Thanks again, I’m honored to be included.

Noreen Braman

Special Media Editor, Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic 20 Roszel Ro

Corrections or additions?

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