Editorials

One of the most acclaimed sportswriters of the 20th century, Red Smith, said of his craft, "There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein."

Many of our letter writers, it appears, agree with Red Smith. Though sometimes we wonder precisely whose veins they wish to open.

Such is life in a free society.

Our letters column, as do countless others at newspapers across the country, represents something remarkable. Letters to the editor are an essential part of democracy's DNA, a daily confirmation of the First Amendment's guarantees.

This is why The Star honors its best letter writers with a banquet each year. As has happened for more than two decades, Tuesday night our page's most prolific and skilled letter writers gathered. They heard from New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., who speaks this afternoon at 2 at the Houston Cole Library on the campus of Jacksonville State.

One regular of our letter writers banquet, Willard A. McDonald of Ashland, was absent. Mr. McDonald passed away last week. He was 76.

His death inspired us to take a look back at his contributions to the newspaper. He was never shy about expressing his views, which usually landed between the right and the far right.

Of Bill Clinton he wrote, "No one since the founding of America has dragged us down in [greater] shame and disgrace." God had "blessed" Clay County by keeping it alcohol-free. The Star, in his view, was hopelessly misguided in its editorial positions.

The Star's editors always had room for Mr. McDonald's letters. The dirty secret is that we often like the critical letters more than the fan letters.

One by Mr. McDonald nicely summed up what we do and why. Our letters column, he wrote, fosters "freedom of both the press and the freedom of speech to their fullest."

That's our aim.