Letters to the Editor welcomed

From the New York Times, Nov. 25, 2008 a letter by Peter Brown:

“Church Forgives John Lennon ‘Boast’ ” (news article, Nov. 23), on the Vatican’s “forgiveness” of John Lennon’s 1966 remark that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus,” missed an important point. Apparently so did the Vatican.

John’s remark was not a boast or a blasphemy. He was pointing out the absurdity of the Beatles’ fame, which at that point was at its madding zenith. For anyone who knew John Lennon, the observation was typical: indelicate, but spot on. He neither sought nor required forgiveness, only understanding.

Peter Brown, New York, Nov. 24, 2008

The writer, the Beatles’ personal assistant and manager, was best man at John Lennon’s and Yoko Ono’s wedding in 1969.

With everything else going on these days, print journalism threatened by electronic news blogs that don’t have the same standards of impartiality and accuracy as traditional journalism, hats off to Peter Brown for reminding us of the divergent worldview of John Lennon, a flawed genius who set the tone for the late 20th century.

Letters to newspapers (online and print) are so important to set the record straight, add personal feelings and give voice to supportive and divergent views.

When I was editor of the Islands Sounder, I was so proud of the letters section in the paper that showed an informed, responsive, involved and appreciative community.

Let your voice be heard — it doesn’t have to be perfect to be eloquent.