To the Editor,
Jack Stephenson of Gilford has tragically revealed himself to be beyond hope. One would have thought that his 75 years of living would have taught him something about decency and civility. Clearly it has not.
Stephenson wrote a letter to the editor that was published Monday in both the Laconia Citizen and the Laconia Daily Sun that was offensive and provokes pity. In it he said, referring to Barack Obama, “Back then some of us thought that he was the same as most USA negroes, but he is not, and he has become a total insult to our great successful negroes in the USA.”
Left to the reader’s imagination is how Stephenson defines most “USA negroes“, or “great successful negroes in the USA”. One can only assume that the aging curmudgeon believes such a definition would be superfluous given that clearly his views must be conventional. Perhaps they were five or six decades ago, but the world has moved beyond such uncomfortable and unsavory stereotypes.
Sadly, Jack hasn’t. Somehow he’s avoided any evolutionary thought.
That doesn’t come as a surprise. Having read his letters over the years, a number of which I refused to publish when I was an editor at the Daily Sun, I’ve always been struck by how miserable Mr. Stephenson is. Seventy-five years of life and all he does is complain.
That’s tragic, and deserves pity. If after 75 years one hasn’t found at least a modicum of happiness and good cheer one’s life must seem a complete waste.
Ron Tunning
Laconia
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Jack Stephenson's history and impact on the world is in http://www.oregonphotos.com/Warmlite1.html, especially the article next to his picture with his wife. The black bikini and the nude backpacker catalogue reaffirms "beyond hope" and is pitiful. I'd rather run into a bear on the trials of Mt Major, NH.
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