DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS
(There's more than one way to censor a radical geezer.)
In exactly one month I turn 68, and I think I’ve landed on that age as the one after which I will say anything I want. Some who know me believe that age was 13 but why quibble over a few years?
Back in April, I received this tentative invitation through my assistant, Kelly:
Good Morning Kelly,
My name is (redacted) and I am the Special Events coordinator for Lacey Parks and Recreation in Washington State. I am also a member of a committee called Lacey Loves to Read. It is a community wide initiative to promote and encourage reading within our schools and the city. For more information here is the website: http://www.nthurston.k12.wa.us/read
I am writing to see if Mr. Chris Crutcher would be interested or available to possibly be our Lacey Loves to Read Author for 2015. We would highlight him during the month of February, and then schedule a visit most likely the last week in Feb. (around Feb. 25-27, 2015).
Kelly answered that my schedule was open and that we would work with them to match their funding and schedule.
Time passes, then…
Good Afternoon Kelly,
I apologize for not writing back to you sooner, thank you for your patience. Summer is a busy time for everyone and it has been a crazy past few weeks. I am writing to let you know that the Lacey Loves to Read Committee has gone a different direction this year and decided on an author whose work most aligned with the North Thurston School Districts focus for next year- Compassion. If it is alright with you we would love to keep Chris as a possible candidate for a future Lacey Loves to Read Author.
Thank you again for your prompt response and communication, best of luck in this coming year! Please let me know if you have any questions.
Well guess what. I didn’t have any questions but I had my almost 68 year-old response:
Dear (Name Withheld),
I read your email to Kelly, and actually I do want you to take me off your list as a candidate for future engagements. Had you said, "The Lacey-Loves-to-Read Committee has gone a different direction this year and decided on an author whose work most aligned with the North Thurston School Districts focus for next year- MYSTERY.."or "...ACTION ADVENTURE," or "...FANTASY," or "FIFTY SHADES OF ALMOST ANYTHING," I wouldn't blink. But I could fill the North Thurston School Superintendent's office with emails and letters I've received over the years, from teachers, parents and students alike, lauding the compassion in my stories; compassion for outsiders, for the abused and molested, for the gay and lesbian plight, for sensitivity to racial issues, for the powerless, the lonely and the forgotten. Those aren't my portrayals, they are the depictions of readers.
No offense to you personally, (name withheld), because I know you approached us earlier in good faith, but I'm tired of schools and/or community committees fearing conservative backlash to sensitive issues and of throwing their own biases into the mix with no consideration for what the young people on their watch are really going through. Controversy and discomfort are a huge part of real education. This should make it easy for your "decision makers" in the future because it means they won’t have to deal with me again, and because this email will make it convenient to dismiss me as unreasonable. But the truth is, I was willing to adjust my fee and my schedule to fit your needs because I believed that, in inviting me, your community was willing to open real and earnest exchange between old and young. What I got back was an email reminiscent of a letter of resignation from a disgraced politician who wants "to spend more time with my family."
Feel free to share this with any members of the committee or the community that you choose. I too will be sharing it...sans your name, of course.
All due respect,
Chris Crutcher
(There's more than one way to censor a radical geezer.)
In exactly one month I turn 68, and I think I’ve landed on that age as the one after which I will say anything I want. Some who know me believe that age was 13 but why quibble over a few years?
Back in April, I received this tentative invitation through my assistant, Kelly:
Good Morning Kelly,
My name is (redacted) and I am the Special Events coordinator for Lacey Parks and Recreation in Washington State. I am also a member of a committee called Lacey Loves to Read. It is a community wide initiative to promote and encourage reading within our schools and the city. For more information here is the website: http://www.nthurston.k12.wa.us/read
I am writing to see if Mr. Chris Crutcher would be interested or available to possibly be our Lacey Loves to Read Author for 2015. We would highlight him during the month of February, and then schedule a visit most likely the last week in Feb. (around Feb. 25-27, 2015).
Kelly answered that my schedule was open and that we would work with them to match their funding and schedule.
Time passes, then…
Good Afternoon Kelly,
I apologize for not writing back to you sooner, thank you for your patience. Summer is a busy time for everyone and it has been a crazy past few weeks. I am writing to let you know that the Lacey Loves to Read Committee has gone a different direction this year and decided on an author whose work most aligned with the North Thurston School Districts focus for next year- Compassion. If it is alright with you we would love to keep Chris as a possible candidate for a future Lacey Loves to Read Author.
Thank you again for your prompt response and communication, best of luck in this coming year! Please let me know if you have any questions.
Well guess what. I didn’t have any questions but I had my almost 68 year-old response:
Dear (Name Withheld),
I read your email to Kelly, and actually I do want you to take me off your list as a candidate for future engagements. Had you said, "The Lacey-Loves-to-Read Committee has gone a different direction this year and decided on an author whose work most aligned with the North Thurston School Districts focus for next year- MYSTERY.."or "...ACTION ADVENTURE," or "...FANTASY," or "FIFTY SHADES OF ALMOST ANYTHING," I wouldn't blink. But I could fill the North Thurston School Superintendent's office with emails and letters I've received over the years, from teachers, parents and students alike, lauding the compassion in my stories; compassion for outsiders, for the abused and molested, for the gay and lesbian plight, for sensitivity to racial issues, for the powerless, the lonely and the forgotten. Those aren't my portrayals, they are the depictions of readers.
No offense to you personally, (name withheld), because I know you approached us earlier in good faith, but I'm tired of schools and/or community committees fearing conservative backlash to sensitive issues and of throwing their own biases into the mix with no consideration for what the young people on their watch are really going through. Controversy and discomfort are a huge part of real education. This should make it easy for your "decision makers" in the future because it means they won’t have to deal with me again, and because this email will make it convenient to dismiss me as unreasonable. But the truth is, I was willing to adjust my fee and my schedule to fit your needs because I believed that, in inviting me, your community was willing to open real and earnest exchange between old and young. What I got back was an email reminiscent of a letter of resignation from a disgraced politician who wants "to spend more time with my family."
Feel free to share this with any members of the committee or the community that you choose. I too will be sharing it...sans your name, of course.
All due respect,
Chris Crutcher
