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Letters
This Weeks Letters

November 09, 2006

HE GETS IT!





Mary-Ann Tirone Smith saw your review of Billy Boyle and sent it on to me ("Bookshelf Reviews," Oct. 12, 2006). At first I was... perplexed. Then, I read more of the Maui Time Weekly online and loved it. From half a world away (Connecticut), I like the info and attitude!



Next in the Billy Boyle series is The First Wave,

due out August 2007. Can't wait to see what you make of that. Probably

will have a cover of faceless Billy and more bombers (German this time,

for variety).

Thanks for noticing.





-James R. Benn, author of Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery, via email







SO DOES THIS GUY!





I am writing this letter in regards to the Eh Brah article that

appeared in your newspaper Sept. 28 and then again on Oct. 12 [to say

nothing of the letter that ran on Oct. 26]. I just wanted to let you

know that annoying people who cannot shut up in a movie theater are the

worst kind. It's bad enough to have to shell out $20 to watch a flick

with my date, and then another $20 on popcorn and soda.

But to have some rude inconsiderate person shriek with laughter the

entire time is just unbearable. People like that should not be allowed

in the theater. They should be back in their special ed class with

their coloring book!

SHUT THE HELL UP AT THE MOVIES!!! Don't answer your cell phone and

talk on it. Don't hold a conversation with your date. Don't laugh like

a banshee the entire time and ruin everyone else's experience. It's

people like this that made me buy a surround sound system for my home

so I don't have to deal with them.

I would like to applaud the person who tossed a soda at this girl.

Next time please follow with the popcorn and Mochi crunch, too. And to

the girl who can't shut up at the movies but who obviously got help

writing her letter to the editor, I'm really sorry you are "concerned

for your safety" after you were subjected to such an "asinine" movie.

Next time keep your big mouth shut at the theater or just stay home.

-Anonymous, via email












AND THIS ONE, TOO!





I lived on Maui for almost six years, before moving to Greece six

months ago. During that dance in paradise, I couldn't avoid the

occasional read through of Maui's only paper with a sense of humor (and

one of two with newsworthy reading, the Haleakala Times

being the other). More often than not, I found myself skipping through

the paper, and reading every word you [Samantha Campos] wrote, even

when it was meaningless scribble about a night of drinking and babble.

Obviously there's been, right from the start, something very engaging

about your style and grace. Thanks for the giggles.

Now, thousands of miles across the world, I find myself surfing the

net and reading your columns again. And again. Kudos on your one act

play ("Chris Isaak," Oct. 19, 2006). It is a theatrical masterpiece.

Really. Signature Campos. Breaking form and dipping into the throwaway

slang of hallway chatter to paint a picture of an American icon.

Effective, disarming and engaging. It's been a pleasure to watch your

style evolve. I look forward to seeing the fruit of such a fragrant

flower...

-Odysseus, via email












THIS ONE, NOT SO MUCH





After reading [Samantha Campos'] piece this week, "Damnation and

Hellfire" (Oct. 19, 2006), I had to weigh in. I read your columns not

for their content but for their style. You are a gifted writer and

produce some interesting work.

But after October 12th, I, too, had to wonder if you were going the

way of Jerry Springer ("Slippery When Wet!"). I understand that

"shocking" sells. I understand also that you are writing for an

"alternative" adult audience and its tastes. But to me, "adult" doesn't

mean tasteless, self-destructive and/or nymphomaniacal.

"Adult" simply describes someone with the maturity to use discretion

in a way that children, generally speaking, cannot. We are guests in a

relatively small community, Samantha, in a host culture that values

kuleana (responsibility). Printing your column "in the back of the

newspaper" is not the same as broadcasting so-called adult material

late at night or shelving pornography out of reach. Kids turn pages as

easily as grown-ups, after all, and Maui Time is available to them everywhere.



My guess is that you are very tired, sister. Take some time off.

Start taking better care of yourself. Travel. Read. Visit the elderly,

the homeless, the terminally ill. Serve. Then tell us all about it.

Your writing skills will still be as vibrant, and you will have put them to much better use. I see great things for you.



-Rupa Manjari, via email





Maui Time

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