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Garrison--

From a longtime listener and first time post-er:

I notice that on several occasions you have treated readers of TWA to a snippet of poetry by Jim Harrison, which I appreciate. As a long time fan of his (since 1970!) I know he could be terribly funny and horribly scary, sometime at the same moment. How do you think he would have come across on PHC if given the opportunity?

GF

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Jim walked up and introduced himself to me in the lobby of the Huntington Hotel in SF. He said he listened to PHC in his cabin in the U.P. He didn't say that he loved it or anything of the sort, but we sort of became friends. I neverr thought to invite him on the show and now that you mention it, I do find it sort of scary, but I wish I had. I just got the big thick Complete Poems and I look forward to wandering through it and expect to be amazed and bewildered. He was an independent. I'm just an old comedian.

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founding

I liked your reaction to Michael Finity's letter on racial fanatics! Once in 2015, when Kim Davis was in the news for refusing to issue a marriage license to a male couple, I wandered into rural New Hampshire. At a tourist attraction, I happened to mention something to the sales woman there about Davis as a Notary. OMG! The bite of a rattlesnake or a cobra would be pale by comparison! Early into the diatribe, I gathered that she was spitting back the sermon her Fundamentalist preacher had given.

It's all well and good to hope that your well-intentioned efforts to bring interracial, (or inter-sexual preferences, whatever) - peace and tranquility by simply "having a fair and frank discussion with the other person. But there are times when your most concerted efforts are sure to get you to Ground Zero (= Zero Tolerance) with your prejudiced listener.

With all his experience at interviewing, it seems to me that Our Dear Host has developed the sort of radar that cues him in to potentially useless efforts! I'd trust his intuition in such situations, a lot more than my own!

It's too bad that our political situation has reached such a huge gulf. Unfortunately, there are times when it's probably better to let some sleeping dogs lie.

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Dear GK,

Regarding Pat McC's comment on rhubarb, my mother used to stew rhubarb in an aluminum pan which was all tarnished when she started stewing, but when it was all stewed, the pan was as clean as a whistle. So where did all that aluminum tarnish go, I say, remembering how I eagerly ate the lovely rhubarb?

ET

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