January Letters

Readers respond to the November issue

  • By Smithsonian magazine
  • Smithsonian magazine, January 2006, Subscribe
 

 

Article Tools

 
  • Comments (1)
  • Font
    		•
  • Email
    		•
  • RSS
    		•
  • Print
    		•
  • Single Page
    		•

    Vive La Différence

    The special 35th anniversary issue about people who have made a difference, chosen from those covered in past issues, is one of the finest that I have ever seen. It is a keeper! Thanks for the depth of this issue.

    Jack Holcomb
    West Reading, Pennsylvania

    I eagerly await my copy of Smithsonian each month, but this issue was a total disappointment. It was lying in the recycling bin within 15 minutes. Your magazine hardly ever gets recycled at all, except to another reader. Why would you deviate from your regular format to celebrate an anniversary? Why leave what has been successful? If you want to give your readers a special surprise, give them more of what you normally do, give them a double issue. I feel like I've been cheated.

    Wayne Weiss
    Middleton, Wisconsin

    You finally did it. After 35 years, during which I read every issue cover to cover, you have produced a boring magazine. If you will just continue doing what you have done so well for the past 35 years, I will forgive this one lapse.

    Warren McFarland
    Winter Springs, Florida

    I have every Smithsonian, beginning with the first issue, and have read each one from cover to cover. I find articles that I wouldn't read anywhere else. When I saw the November cover my first reaction was, "I don't want to read about a bunch of people," but then as I looked at the names, I thought "Well, I'd be interested in that person and that person..." So, once again, I read it from cover to cover. Here's to another 35 years.


    Vive La Différence

    The special 35th anniversary issue about people who have made a difference, chosen from those covered in past issues, is one of the finest that I have ever seen. It is a keeper! Thanks for the depth of this issue.

    Jack Holcomb
    West Reading, Pennsylvania

    I eagerly await my copy of Smithsonian each month, but this issue was a total disappointment. It was lying in the recycling bin within 15 minutes. Your magazine hardly ever gets recycled at all, except to another reader. Why would you deviate from your regular format to celebrate an anniversary? Why leave what has been successful? If you want to give your readers a special surprise, give them more of what you normally do, give them a double issue. I feel like I've been cheated.

    Wayne Weiss
    Middleton, Wisconsin

    You finally did it. After 35 years, during which I read every issue cover to cover, you have produced a boring magazine. If you will just continue doing what you have done so well for the past 35 years, I will forgive this one lapse.

    Warren McFarland
    Winter Springs, Florida

    I have every Smithsonian, beginning with the first issue, and have read each one from cover to cover. I find articles that I wouldn't read anywhere else. When I saw the November cover my first reaction was, "I don't want to read about a bunch of people," but then as I looked at the names, I thought "Well, I'd be interested in that person and that person..." So, once again, I read it from cover to cover. Here's to another 35 years.

    Lilith
    Ventura, California

    How sad that Smithsonian could think of no better way to celebrate 35 years of publishing than to devote an entire issue to personal biographies. What's the point of preaching to the choir when your audience is already familiar with these illustrious overachievers? Why celebrate with back-patting and horn-tooting?

    John Occhuizzo
    Greensburg, Pennsylvania

    It was such a pleasure to read of the many people who have made such an impact. The November issue was insightful and thoughtful, and touched on so many different fields. No vacuous starlets, no overpaid athletes: these are the real people who make a difference. Bravo!

    Nancy Davison
    New Braunfels, Texas

    Reading the articles in this issue was like having brief conversations with these 35 people who "made a difference." The profiles revealing their lives, thoughts, hopes and concerns may lead others to try to make a difference too.

    Lynwood G. Collins
    Macon, Georgia

    Thank you for profiling Mark Plotkin, Richard Leakey, Daphne Sheldrick, David Attenborough, Daniel Janzen and Janis Carter. These luminaries share a reverence for all life, striving to conserve the planet's ecosystems.

    Brien Comerford
    Glenview, Illinois

    My daughter and I had the pleasure of meeting Sally Ride during one of her science camps at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. My daughter, a fourth grader at the time, has always been interested in science, and still glows when she remembers her conversation with Dr. Ride. Now 16 and a junior in high school, she is the captain of the school robotics team, and spent the summer at her first job building hydrogen energy reactors. She plans to attend the University of Michigan and study astrophysics. All I can say is, "Go, Sally, go!"

    Sharon Krasner
    Huntington Woods, Michigan


    1 2 3 Next »

        Subscribe now for more of Smithsonian's coverage on history, science and nature.


    Digg
     
    Comments (1)

    I saw that John Occhuizzo responded. It would be great to hear from him. He was instrumental in my life and time has put a distance between us. In the mid '80s he was a teacher at a school in Pennsylvania and he had an impact on many lives. I wish there were more teachers like him.

    Posted by ben on September 4,2008 | 08:54 PM

    Post a Comment


    Name: (required)

    Email: (required)

    Comment:

    Comments are moderated, and will not appear until Smithsonian.com has approved them. Smithsonian reserves the right not to post any comments that are unlawful, threatening, offensive, defamatory, invasive of a person's privacy, inappropriate, confidential or proprietary, political messages, product endorsements, or other content that might otherwise violate any laws or policies.



    Advertisement


    Advertisement

    Follow Us






    First Name
    Last Name
    Address 1
    Address 2
    City
    State   Zip
    Email

    Smithsonian Store

    Smithsonian Journeys