Mildly incensed by a recent burp of stupidity from my home town, I sent this letter to the superintendent of the Durango school district and to the editor of the local newspaper:
I grew up in Durango and attended its excellent public schools from kindergarten through graduation from DHS in 1995.
It was with great embarrassment and dismay that I found my beloved home town of Durango in the national news this week. Dana Nilsson’s comments on the Newbery Medal-winning book The Higher Power of Lucky which appeared in February 18th’s New York Times paint Durango as a provincial backwater and undermine the reputation and achievements of its students and schools. No matter how well-intentioned those remarks may have been, nothing makes a town or its people seem foolish quite so effectively as censorship of children’s books.
If the word “scrotum” is so egregiously radioactive in its medical correctness that a Newbery winner is deemed off-limits, then a deeper purge of the libraries is in order–who knows how much damage might be caused if a classic like All Creatures Great and Small fell into the wrong hands? When I was a student in Durango’s public schools, we regularly encountered dangerous, controversial books as a part of our curricula; often-banned works like Huck Finn, Bridge to Terebithia, and Of Mice and Men enriched our educations and made us better people.
The last time I saw Durango schools in the news, Smiley Middle School students were being strip-searched at a field trip. It made a bit of a splash on CNN. Are these really the kinds of waves that Durango wants to make in the world?
Do I have any illusions that it’ll make a difference? Not really. But when one’s home town shows up on Neil Gaiman’s blog, one is forced to take certain measures.
…
Shocking update! I received a gracious reply from Dr. Barter just seventeen short minutes later that clarified the matter of the book’s treatment in the library in question–it has not been completely removed but shelved with the young adult section and available for checkout. So shame on the NYT for pulling a Daily Show maneuver and lumping my home town in with the scrotum-fearing book-banners.
Also–and I should know better than for this to surprise me, but it does anyway–thanks to the charming smallness of Durango, Dr. Barter recognized my last name right away and connected me to my parents. I must have gotten used to being comfortably anonymous after almost twelve years here in Cleveland.
- Mood:righteous
3 responses so far ↓
After moving to Seattle it took a bit of getting used to not having random stranger’s ask me if I was my father’s daugher
And good for Durango, shame on NYT
That’s a lovely letter you wrote. I applaud!!
And it’s nice to hear that Durango isn’t entirely wrong-headed on the issue of censorship
Durango seemed like a pleasant place when I was there. Like Statesboro, without the southern twang.