pig S:. SUNDAY FO readers write on THE fine art of letter writing thrives on the North Shore. ina ory when tom nanny have Slipped nto the dead: zone as Past c information consumers. there are those among us who dare ta cont ARC The opinion to wry Tr takes a) certain courage to express oneself ina public rorum with name atached. There is a risk of censure. Conversely, there iy a Shanes tor praise. Unwavering conviction, fired by gut emotion or guided by cool logic, is essential ta the process. Motivation varies. Some writers are triggered to respond by some- thing they read in’ a newspaper. Others put pen to paper to give pro- fle and leginmacy to their own agendas. The power of print is such, Wherher an cloguent, well-rea- soned argument or an exclamation- mark-riddled rant, letters lend 4 cer: rain vigour ta any newspaper worth its salt. This paper is blessed with an engaged and literate readership. A vibrant fetters to the editor page represents the original form of interactive media. Keep them coming. — Michael Becker is part of her plas: to one day become an MLA. Letters to the Edito wn — —, AAGUISAP AAR, LE its “that ha dinngrecs with sales SEALALES OF SAt8 BAK LARRY evan SLEZPING PessTHAP Pre Maric, the paper’s consistent correspondents, “It sounds kind of schmakvy, but che first thing that gor me thinking about doing this is my father (Mike Lakes). He is a war amp. ew. (niony wiih vier porenta we Rowe tated eal ere APPALLED ot the wtt oF consiirty thet yous repertor, Anne Mode D'Anyele siupinyed murmy her 20count in yoslerdey's paper On the coat of Aeron Leni. on,” she said. Cook's father practiced what he preached. He served on North Vancouver District council for 15 years, she says. Cook herself has taken five runs at winning a school board seat in Nerth Vancouver. So far she has been unsuccessful, but she’s getting closer. Said Cook, “The last time [ran in 1996 T was absolutely amazed Graphic Norisa Anderson NEWS photo Brad Ledwidge SUE Cook writes regutar!y to the North Shore News. The effort k’s father LETTER writing is a matter of democratic process for Berkley Road resident Sue Cook. Atdl, the North Vancouver woman has been sending letters to the North Shore News for approximately 20 years. She is one of “f can remember as a teenager I did sdmething wrong and he got very annoyed. Basically he gave me the story leg'in a little farm house ia Europe. He was ina tank and the tank had blown up. It was a pretty gory story,” Cook recalled. The point her father made with the anecdote was that no matter what happened to her, he expected his daughter to stand up for democracy and “the things that wee? right.” “Ir was such 4 strong part of my teenage years. That was the beginning motivator of really being concerned about what's going are fn we URGES, aaa NEWS photo Grad Ledwidgu WEST Vancouver retiree Denis Mason writes letters to the edi- tor at Jeast once a week. (new besi te conie in fourth, | started at the very bottom and just kept going.” Letter writing ts key to her plan. Published letters build commu: nity pratile. Cook leis on, “1 have been using you guys a little bit, TL actually have a goal and rhat goal is to be an MLA. “L want to do iz as an individual, don‘: want to be part of a political party. Twenty vears ago when E decided that this was going to be my goal, { had to say, “How an | going to do this?? Nobody knows me. [ started finding different issues and was lucky enough to be published.” Her letters have mainly touched upon school board issues and neighbourhood concerns. Yet the missive that resonates the most for her is one published following the David Snow affair. Snow was found a dangerous offender after he went on a deadly rampage of attempted murder, kidnapping, continement and rape in North Vancouver in 1992. “Pwrote about the fact that Phad been raped and how it had affected me and my family, It was a very cleansing thing to do. | didn’t know if the North Shore News would rouch something like that and vou did. “Twas thrilled that a young man wrote back and said chat the let- ter had inspired him to go and get help. That was probably one of the most incredible things,” said Cook. out how he lost his — Michael Becker est Van retiree Mason a prolific letter writer ANGRY women phone Denis Mason out of the blue to rail against him for his anti-monarchist ways. The 73-year-old West Vancouver resident thrives on the discourse, He has been writing to the North Shore News for many years. Mason likes iz best when his letters spark some reaction, He is among the more active contributors to the News letters to the editor forum. Mason's activity in the public arena really picked up when he got a modem for his compur- er in the early 1990s, “I’ve been faxing them or e-mailing them everywhere,” he said. He faxes at least a letter a week these days. Mason his mastered the art of the short, sharp shock. Take this classic blast from Mason submitted to the paper on Nov, 27; “Eve become frus- trated with the almost daily unnecessary up and down pricing at the local gas stations. It reminds me of the old ‘whore’s drawers’ tale, and reflects in kind on all the gas companies for giving their customers this demeaning run-around.” Before he retired, Mason did a bir of writing for yachting magazines when he was in the pho- tographic business. “My first onslaught to the North Shore News would have been on the Royal family, because Noel Wright is a royalist and I’m not, you sce. “So when he's been writing some of his stuff, and he gets really carried away, he goes off into cloud nine with the royalty. E try to bring him down to earth.” Obviously he finds jov in the pro “My wife who used to be a teacher has helped me enormously with my grammar and English and the rest of it. I just enjoy writing 1 guess and when you've gota computer it makes it fun, doesn’t i?” Political issues tend to wind him up the most. Offers Mason, “I think Trudeau is the worst thing that ever happened to Canada, Mulroney gets more blame than he does. Mulroney may have been a littl more crooked, | don’t know, but ‘Trudeau was misguided, I think, and so ve written on that. Also ’'m not particularly fond of Chretien either.” He values the give and take of a lively lerters to the editor page. “TE think the idea is terrific. It certainly is a way of venting one’s spleen a little bit.” He’s nor sure whether he is making a difference in the community by writing letters to the local newspaper. Said Mason, “I tell vou one thing: there’s quite a few people that I know chat have men- tioned that they read my letters and by in large the people { Know have always said that they agree with me. But Pve had some people, especially on the royalty business, Fve had some old ladies phone me up and tell me that Pm rotten and awful. [fa woman phones me she’s usual- Iya devout royalist.” -— Michael Becker