Letters

Week of July 4, 2001

Comments (0) Wednesday, Jul 4 2001

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This story reminds me how strong the human spirit really is and what incredible people Tom and Mary are. I was brought to tears when I read Mary's thoughts on having a child: "Do you think a baby could love someone who looks like me?" Their beautiful baby, Jennifer, is proof that love conquers all. The Hessels are angels sent from God to remind us of the beauty of life. The majority of us are only spoiled with health and happiness.
Samantha Pieper
St. Charles

Just Leave 'Em Pissed, Hey!
I've seen people pry more words out of Marcel Marceau: In the Toya interview [René Spencer Saller, "Radar Station," RFT, June 13], you proudly boasted about your Nelly interview by saying, "We'll find out for ourselves next week, when the multiplatinum pinup finally grants Radar Station the interview we've been begging for."

Wes Fordyce

More About

So I wait a week. What does the RFT pry out of our local hero in this much-anticipated interview [Saller, "Radar Station," RFT, June 20]? A one-line comment. Sure, it was a nice piece on how Nelly is a huge idol and all of that stuff. Yeah, yeah. Selling millions of albums can be known to occasionally hint of this. But for the most part, the article dealt with the writer sticking her neck over the shoulders of other journalists and listening in. When the RFT finally gets Nelly's attention, what are we treated to? A paraphrase. Not until the very end does Nelly address the RFT directly. It wasn't so much of an interview as it was a voyeuristic piece. I can shove my ear to the seat of Dave Murray's pants and listen all day. But it doesn't make me a weatherman.

I am not saying René's piece was bad or anything. Actually, I enjoyed hearing about his diehard fans. But I think us readers were a bit misled, that's all. Come on -- I've seen people pry more words out of Marcel Marceau. Maybe next time you'll beg a little more.
Adam Hackbarth
Maryland Heights

Postindustrial Rage
Why the vitriol?One would think that the Riverfront Times, which fights for credibility itself alongside the local daily of ill repute, would manage to write articles encouraging St. Louis musicianship and related efforts. René Spencer Saller's recent article dancing on the death of a music-related paper ["Radar Station," RFT, June 27] shows the kind of egocentric, hateful, and downright destructive attitude that would have killed the RFT itself had people bought into it years ago.

Suggesting that "the only thing I feel fit to cover is the only thing that's cool; if not, then die," is beyond childish; it's just plain silly. Whether or not The Industry was a decent periodical, the efforts of those that worked hard to try to enhance local musicianship should not be so arrogantly and narrow-mindedly ignored and detested. While she hints at places that she may actually be going somewhere with her gleeful eulogy, she never manages to make a clear enough point as to why this periodical was, in fact, so evil. Perhaps if your writers spent more time informing us about the story instead of dancing around giving a dead competitor the metaphorical finger, I'd be more inclined to understand from where all the vitriol comes.
Charles Horn
St LouisWe followed our dream: I found your comments on our readers, St. Louis musicians, our magazine and our staff extremely jaded. I can't help but wonder if you've ever seen all the issues of The Industry. You think it's a "pay-to-play" publication? We've covered several artists who've never run ads in the magazine. Why? Because it's not a stipulation. If you knew your stuff, you'd know that. And what's wrong with a group paying for its own publicity? Does the word "advertising" ring a bell? Anyone who knows publishing will tell you that editorial space is flex space. Advertising space is mandatory. It seems you must have "missed that day in J-school."

There is an entire aspect of the music scene that [the Riverfront Times] cannot cover. One reason is that you are handicapped by a lack of knowledge of real music and of the real players on the real music scene. Another is that you are handicapped by your fear of the unknown, the corporate structure within which you must function and the reputation of the rag you write for. What's news to you is old news to everyone else. There must be a glitch at your "Radar Station."

With The Industrybeing such a scab on the music scene, how do you explain the fact that both its publishers quit their day jobs, financed the publication, closed shop one year later and went back into the job market to accept positions which guaranteed even larger salaries than they had before leaving? There must be a lesson in there somewhere, ya think? My partner and I did what most people will never do in their entire lifetime: We followed a dream. You can knock it if you like, that's your thing. But The Industrywas ours. We weren't floating high on somebody else's shit, thinking we've got it made.
Kevin Hopkins
Co-Publisher,The Industry