I perhaps represent a great number of silent Mirror readers who thoroughly enjoyed reading Ken Hechtman’s reports from war-torn Afghanistan.
The letter writers you published laughed at his amateurishness, but the fact remains Ken Hechtman has good writing skills. Everyone has got to start somewhere, and Hechtman’s debut experience could be viewed as a baptism by fire. Why is inexperience such a shameful trait? We all learn with time and journalists usually improve with experience.
Ken Hechtman may or may not choose to be a journalist in the long run, but if you hire him on a long-term basis, I will read your paper even more regularly and enthusiastically and will recommend it to my friends.
I like newspapers that take risks. Bravo for being open-minded.

—Tony Reese

Saalaamz. Having spent many years (longer than Ken Hechtman’s been alive, actually) “smuggling” hashish from Afghanistan, I would like to thank Mr. Hechtman for his missives from the Light Garden. Deeply. He understood. He got it, and we got it from him without the bullshit. His dispatches were unique in that they were even close, and in fact they were right on.
Whatever those safari-suited CIA/DEA/WTO bumboys say, journalistically he’s at least the equal of Robert Fisk: lucid, brave, intuitive and—take it from me—utterly credible; artistically, he’s on the order of Evelyn Waugh. Can’t wait for the book.
Thanks to the Mirror for whatever degree of support was given to Mr. Hechtman and for providing us with the real dope. Give a raise to whoever called that shot. You’ve wisely participated in the unleashing of an awesome talent that humbles and embarrasses les vendus in a trade rendu mediocre-manqué.
Darvish Ken... Zindabad!

—Name withheld by request

From what I’ve seen and heard, Mr. Hechtman is an arrogant, irresponsible young man. Luckily the Canadian government came to his rescue and now he’ll make money from his experience.

—Patrick Normand

This is in response to photo-journalist Richard Burch’s indignation about Ken Hechtman [Letters, Dec. 13]. During the war in Afghanistan we haven’t seen many Westerners do much more than pick their nails while dozing beside huge machine guns or deliver fuzzy bedtime reporting accompanied by fuzzy nocturnal explosions. I find it rather fortunate, if not illuminating, to be supplied with eerily humanizing tales from the guts of the enemy jail.
Were Hechtman’s endeavours foolhardy? Certainly. But that should be his mother’s and father’s concern, not Mr. Burch’s. As an (envious perhaps?) journalist, he ought to be warmly reminded of words like adventure, reckless youth and even passion.
Did Mr. Burch forget during a hopscotch photo shoot or while wetting his trousers in Middle Eastern jails? I’m afraid that Mr. Burch and all the other jacks-in-the-boxes revolt me.

—A. Williams

Credentials questioned

Firstly, I always thought that war correspondents were supposed to be the most accomplished of journalists, but the Mirror employs an untested writer with no experience, and frankly, no judgement on how to work in a deadly war zone.
Secondly, please explain to Kristian Gravenor that one cannot convert to being black like one can convert their religion or citizenship [“Black Unlike Me,” Dec. 6].
Even though he’s married a black woman, fathered children with her and patronizes a black car mechanic, he’s still Caucasian. One can love black people and be loved by them, one can appreciate black culture, but still, to be black, is to be born black.
When Mr. Gravenor writes that he “actively chose to be black,” he is establishing himself as a silly person who cannot be taken seriously.

—Helen Shapiro

Fresh praise for Barry

I have to say that looking through your Letters section [Dec. 13] it distresses me to see not one, but two letters chastising Chris Barry for the thoroughly entertaining article he wrote about the Cannabis Cup.
How can people so miss the point? It is exactly Mr. Barry’s nihilistic “I don’t have respect for anything” world view which makes his articles consistently so much fun to read.
Here is arguably the freshest, and certainly most enjoyable, writer to grace the pages of the local media in years being mercilessly attacked by fools for simply sparing us the predictable righteousness so common to the alternative press.
Lighten up, for Christ’s sake. I, for one, look forward to reading Chris Barry’s column every week and don’t want to see him get fired because of ignorant, uptight, politically correct assholes like Suju and Greg Farber.
Keep up the good work, Mirror.
—Steven Cohen

Amazon extremities

In your December 13 edition, about the book Amazon Extreme, you say, “…the tale of the first ever people to travel the entire length of the Amazon River on a raft.”
Which sounds like a dubious distinction, as well as what follows in the same paragraph: “…the trio spent five months battling mosquitoes, hallucinations and heat and humidity while taking in the majesty of the rain forest and its peoples.”
Not very heroic sounding considering that the peoples of the Amazon basin spent their entire lives battling mosquitoes, hallucinations etc.
What gives? That review sure doesn’t make me want to buy that book.

—Steve Michel

Ban prudery!

Heartfelt thanks to Susan Fuda for her excellent letter describing her daughter’s horrified reaction to the Mirror cover of Monty Cantsin’s Machine Sex Action Group.
Nowhere in the letter you entitled “Ban nudity” does Ms. Fuda suggest banning nudity. Are you implying that Ms. Fuda is a prude? Please, stop ridiculing Ms. Fuda and start addressing the issues she and letter writer Bernard Boulad raise. By misquoting those who speak out, the Mirror further erodes its own credibility.

—Jean Elliot Manning

Kris Steeves, in a Nov. 22 letter defending Monty Cantsin and the Mirror, claims parents can simply teach their kids to be “nicer” while outside influences of sex and nudity (i.e. instinctual pressures) continue unabated—as if those influences can be safely ignored. What if you end up with an 11-year-old rapist as in a case similar to one in Ontario not long ago?
Steeves is quick to denounce “repressed individuals,” but can he recognize civilized ones? Is he mistaking exposure for enlightenment? He takes for granted a cynicism that sees no place in the real world for innocence or mere decency.
Meanwhile, the rest of us (I sincerely hope) take for granted that children have the right to live free from perversion and that even adults are entitled not to be confronted by pornographic material without their consent.
Unfortunately, the rest of us have much more work to do if “sheltering” youngsters is to win out over corrupting them. We need to focus criticism on the media, the educational environment and public advertising. Complaining about one obscene cover page in a free newspaper is only the beginning.

—L.S. Cattarini

Stereo still blasting

I’m tired of the vultures circling Stereo, blabbering on about how “Stereo is going to close” and giving a whole plethora of exhausting scenarios that all seem to end in the demise of one of North America’s most famous night spots.
Anyone who has been to Stereo in the last couple weeks has seen that nothing has changed and Stereo is operating as it always has. In fact, it’s an established factoid that Stereo had almost 400 more patrons a couple of weeks ago for David Morales and Angel Moraes than Aria did for its golden child, Cevin Fisher.
At Stereo, we don’t sell advertising space, glowsticks, big hairdos, tiger balm or whistles. What we sell there is music, plain and simple. Until the music dies (which it never will), there will always be Stereo and Stereo people.

—A disgruntled Stereo employee

Bad is good

“The bad old days of the Fringe,” says Amy Barratt [“Hell on Earth,” Dec. 6]? I want to see bad. I want to see some show by a family from the West Island. I want to see someone starting out, something that reaches me. I want to see zany promotion because the company has spent all their money on staging the show, and can’t afford a slick PR firm. I’d love to be able to walk out of a show because it’s bad. That’s why it’s important that everyone, not just the theatre types, know that the Fringe Fest (June 13–23, www.montrealfringe.ca or 849-FEST) is open for submissions. Deadline is Feb. 14. For Quebec, selection is by lottery, Feb. 15. Elsewhere, it’s first come, first served.

—Michael Black