Correspondence
Sills & Pollock & Vrdolyk
"Correspondence" To the Editor: Little will be gained by a rehash of Grover Rees' writings as John Randolph, nor is there much point in haggling with him over his inventive analogy: the urge to murder and...
...Rees' letter, containing the serious error, to be published in January without a corrective from the editor...
...Or "Kikes...
...Do not depend on Hollywood, which Chandler left in the 40s after they butchered three of his novels...
...He is a man who is loyal to institutions even while critical of the men composing them...
...He was the American Revolutionary and his institutions, because of their unheralded success in history, have been accepted by the traditionalists...
...Print your new address and mail this form to The Alternative...
...Rees would be found publicly writing other such noisome epithets...
...Rees' sealed mind, but only in order that the record be set straight: a) Mr...
...Rees and his then-employer frequent, and he hardly had anything to lose by identifying himself with that sort of ignorance...
...The Phillip Marlowe character was a near-tragic one...
...J How can any self-respecting Moose hold their head high in his community when you refer to our ledge's activities as "nincompoop pageantry" and "trashy gettogethers...
...In 1776 he was the American Tory...
...Stein if he knows how to read) to familiarize themselves with Chandler's novels firsthand: The Big Sleep, Farewell My Lovely, The Lady in the Lake, or The Long Good-bye...
...The European liberal is the American libertarian...
...Since then the word "revolution" has been misused by such well-meaning liberals as Thomas Jefferson, who saw 1789 as revolutionary because of the atfmities of its rhetoric with his own ideals...
...Queers queers queers" looks odd in The Alternative, a journal which would not print a correspondent's letter containing a sentence and a half on the order of: "Niggers...
...Enclosed is my check ($4.50 for students and faculty, $6.00 for others...
...The root of "revolution" is "revolve" and I defy anyone to show me a dictionary that lists "revolve" and "change" as synonyms...
...At no time did I attempt to censor his article...
...He was a man of uncompromising integrity challenged by the erosion of culture and decency all around him...
...If American tradition is revolutionary, is conservatism consistent with it...
...Unlike the Europeans, the Americans never recognized socialism, in both its communist and FascistNazi varieties, as being distinct from conservatism and liberalism...
...Morley may disagree with me in part or even in full, but allow me a few comments...
...So defined, conservatism is applicable to our "revolutionary" heritage...
...I must say, Rees' "Queers...
...11, Box 360 Bloomington, Ind...
...What is two distinct groups in Europe is lumped together in the , U.S~ The European conservative is called a traditionalist here...
...The reader can compare Rees-Randolph's "Say it ain't so, Dave," with Mr...
...But those ideals were alien to France...
...Rees' daring use of the epithet "queer" marks him, no doubt, as a tremendous heman, and we shall all swoon next time he passes by...
...The Alternative Circulation Department R.R...
...Many tried to imitate him, none succeeded...
...Such ignorance is bizarre...
...This is not in-fact the case...
...Rees would do well, since my words fall on deaf ears, to attend to Edith Efron's letter in the December "Correspondence" section_9 Rees-Randolph is nicely characterized there by Miss Efron as a "bully boy," and her call for a humane attitude on this matter stands in marked contrast to Mr...
...Nor do ! believe Mr...
...Stein decides to comment on the author of the novel from which the film draws its name: "The Raymond Chandler kind of detective story hovered for so long and so precariously on the brink of being absurd _9 . . that the slight push over the edge which (the director) has given it does not work against it at all...
...Rees to comprehend the grossness of his language...
...When the Reign of Terror repudiated those ideals, the 30 The Alternative March 1974 dominant idea of 1789 became radical change and that is how the word "revolution" has been used ever since...
...But that definition is contradictory...
...Editor To the Editor: As a longtime member of the Loyal Order of the Moose I find your editorial in the January 1974 Alternative has committed an unforgivable injustice to our benevolent organization...
...The purpose of that book was to prove that the events of 1789-1792 in France were not revolutionary...
...Rees insisted on shielding his employer by using "Randolph" as his piece's author, I let it go at that...
...But once it was explained to me that Mr...
...Alfred David Chicago, Illinois changing your address...
...Writing of America in the 30s and 40s, Chandler folmd social plagues that have exploded into the national conscience in the last few years: narcotics addiction, pornography, moral decadence, and unreasoning violence...
...Niggers niggers niggers...
...Frankly this whole correspondence has me so baffled I c~m retiring from my editorial chamber to spend more time with my butterfly collection...
...First of all, what is "conservatism...
...I objected to his use of a pseudonym to mask his identity, in that he was mouthing the usual hateful line, once popular all across the political spectrum but especially fashionable in the sort of right-wing circles Mr...
...Revolution is not change, it is the reaffirming of traditional institutions in the face of desirable and orderly change...
...I trust the editor will verify me on this...
...Chandler found these things among the jaded wealthy, second and third generation rich people bored with life, looking for the better high...
...Elliot Gould, arrgggh...
...I write this letter not in hopes of ever altering Mr...
...All can find companionship, good conversation, and even be elected to some highranking position in the organization...
...Rees' petulant insistence on writing like, and thinking like, a troglodyte...
...Read Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France...
...To the Editor: Little will be gained by a rehash of Grover Rees' writings as John Randolph, nor is there much point in haggling with him over his inventive analogy: the urge to murder and homosexual tendencies...
...It's good to see that highbrow intellectual journals such as The Alternative are also interested in basic questions of economics and business, and I urge you to make the business column a regular feature...
...Spics spics spics...
...name address city state date of change: zip There is oppprtun.ity in America...
...H. Vrdolyk New York City To the Editor: Your publication generally holds a high level, with only occasional lapses into journalistic insobriety . . . . But the limit has been exceeded by Benjamin Stein's review of The Long Good-bye...
...As he points out, the first two uses of that word were to refer to the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the American Revolution, by which I mean the period 17601789 and not just the war for independence...
...Brudnoy is quite right...
...James Sills San Diego, California To the Editor: Reading William Gavin's critique of Felix Morley's article, I was amazed that it in no way invalidated for me the points which he criticized...
...Precisely because of the different definitions of revolution, conservatism, and liberalism, and we American conservatives, or whatever we are, are to be blamed...
...First, there is no such thing as the "Raymond Chandler kind of detective story...
...The Alternative March 1974 31...
...All of your readers who have had the opportunity to frequent our fine Moose club-bars know what genuine service we perform in any community...
...As he matured he also developed a powerful talent for characterization, best exemplified in The Long Good-bye...
...I assume it was an inadvertence that caused Mr...
...Rees' piece...
...Chandler was an innovative ~vriter who combined sparkling and (intentionally) humorous dialogue, with a brilliant sense of pacing...
...I urge Alternative readers (which includes Mr...
...The evidence is abundant...
...In spite of the identicalness of our ends and the minimal differences in our means, American traditionalists and libertarians have obligingly allowed ourselves to be forced into a dictated alliance, thus assuring our infighting and ineffectiveness, for our only possible reaction to force is just that, reaction...
...Or "Spics...
...Please attach address label from the back cover of your Alternative in the space below...
...Rees believes that I"apparently tried to squelch publication" of his piece...
...We Americans in our na'ivet6 have allowed the socialists to define themselves as "liberals" and "revolution" as radical change...
...Always attach address label when writing to us about your subscription...
...Chandler's colleagues, the mysLong Good-bye the best mystery novel of 1953...
...Clark's articles defending the American system of free enterprise are a needed antidote in this age of antibusiness sentiment...
...47401 please attach address label here [] Please renew my subscription for one year...
...First of all, American tradition is definitely "revolutionary" but whatdo I mean by that...
...As Professor Anthony Bouscaren stated in a lecture at this past summer's Georgetown Institute, communism and Fascism belong not to the left and right of liberalism and conservatism, but in the balcony above...
...The development of this decadent trend is all around us today, in Westchester, Shaker Heights, Hyannis Port and other centers of upper-middle class limousine liberalism . . . . Phillip Marlowe's reaction to this rotting upper crust of society was a simple revulsion...
...Ah, but homosexuals are still fair game for asinine humor, and the righteous Mr...
...and c) I did not censor his piece, try to censor his piece, or wish in my heart to censor his piece...
...Kikes kikes kikes...
...David Brudnoy Boston, Massachusetts Mr...
...One more point: Evidently nothing, not an appeal to his sense of decency or to his faculty of reason, will get Mr...
...It is not surprising to me, therefore, that we conservatives appear confused and inept in spite of our potential . . . . Michael E. Pollock Williamsburg, Virginia To the Editor: Just a note to thank and congratulate you for publishing "The Business of America" series by Lindley Clark...
...A few points, however, are worthy of note...
...Your magazine has the misconception that clubs like the Moose have become a haven for a community's social misfits, derelicts, DPs, etc...
...Chandler was the only mystery writer of his time to receive serious literary attention, both here and in his native Britain.-His works sold prodigiously on both sides of the Atlantic, and are prominently featured in libraries thirty years after publication...
...japs, and gooks" to see how extensive his Vocabulary of cruelty is...
...Important: allow six weeks for address change...
...Rees licks his chops and snarls away...
...He is a man who is loyal to concepts such as no taxation without one's consent, the dignity of the individual, etc...
...He fought its effects, and put his life on the line to help break a corrupt police department in a city controlled by gangsters (Bay City Blues...
...The latter story was based on the actual example of Santa Monica, California, well before the crooked political ring was broken there...
...Lot there be no doubt that these are sought after honors as witnessed by many mayors, congressmen, and Senators who have attained such recognition...
...More important, Chandler's works were profoundly traditional in outlook...
...The outstanding idea of these two events was to defend/restore what two geographically and chronologically separate groups of Englishmen saw as their "rights...
...Yet our organization is open to all ranks in society, from bluecollar to lawyer...
...In describing this cinematic rubbish, Mr...
...Why all the confusion then...
...At no time did he try to squelch publication of Mr...
...How can one reaffirm or restore what has not previously existed...
...Perhaps Mr...
...b) I await his use of such terms r as ps, greasers, polacks, micks, chinks...
...On this point there is some merit in praising the superiority of the European...
...Rees' letter in this section in the January issue...
Vol. 7 • March 1974 • No. 6
