Doug wrote; As readers, do we paddlers want good balanced reading, or should a person tell their story in the exact way they want to, and forget about any consensus? Arthur then wrote: It is my opinion to just write from the heart and experiences, ya ain't gonna please everyone. I make no claims of being a writer, nor a edumacated individual. Completed the ninth grade in high school and just received my G.E.D. this year (I'm neither ashamed nor proud of this fact). Really don't care about any consensus. So I would say tell the story in the exact way they want to, we're not all good writers. If only the good writers wrote we would be deprived of a lot of stuff. Of course I would rather read stuff from a good writer. What's good to one may not be good to the other, hey guess dats why we are called individuals :-) DL: I guess that was a given - you can't please everyone, so write from the heart is the best advice. That's what I usually do, and let the editor clean up the mess! I was unable to attend university due to loss of 165 days between Grade 11 and 12 from severe migrains. I'm a proud underachiever, post-secondarily, but kept my health. My father pushed harder, and died at 46. As far as paddlers who write, we would be certainlty bereft if only those who were great writers, wrote. I'll leave my friend alone. Doug wrote this also; I've read articles by some of the Paddlewisers, here and there, in a number of publications. Arthur Ehbert did a great job in an SK article about is crossing of the Gulf of Mexico. Some of my friends felt the article was overly macho. I didn't think so, and if it was, he probably should be allowed to tell the story from his perspective, because what he wrote was what he was feeling - not what someone else was. So, should I offer my friend some opinions, or just let him be? Just thinking out loud, I guess. Arthur then wrote: Doug thanks for your positive comment on the SK article. Just a minor correction, the spelling of my last name is Hebert, pronounced A-bear :-) Overly macho,hmmm, dey ain't gotta clue bout me. Got me going to ask some of my friends if I came across as a macho individual in the SK article to them. I stated in the SK article I cried as I left Isla Mujeres. Macho men don't cry or do they, I wouldn't know. I'm slowly (very slowly) working on a book on the Gulf Expedition. I hope the results don't put me in the macho category. I have a story to tell and it will be told from my heart, mind and experenices. When I get finish with the book I might even know a little something about writing. Doug, next time you talk to your friend please tell him I don't even have a firm hand shake, I might even hug him. Sorry, that isn't the way a macho man should act :-) DL: Sorry 'bout the surname, slip of da finger. 'Bout the SK article, I LOVED IT! I phoned the executive editor at SK Magazine that very same day, said the whole issue was great, that I was entertained, enlightened, and that the issue made me both laugh and cry. When I was asked which article caused tears, I said the "one by Arthur Hebert". There was silence. I got the same response from others. I couldn't believe it. Then I felt like a fool, or something. Nobody was agreeing with me. Eventually, I stood my ground, said the article covered a range of emotions; that the descriptions of being tied up to the oil platform were very adventrous, and the whole issue of your daughter and the reasons for the trip had made me cry upon reading the article. Guess I'm not very macho either. Keep writing from your heart, Arthur. I'll buy your book. Hurry up!! *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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