Letters to the Editor
Your letters from the June 2012 issue
Love of Letters
I simply had to write to you and applaud your "Editor's Notes" for May 2012. Your words spoke to my soul. At age 70 I fight a losing battle with texting, e-mail, smartphones, etc.
I love the written word and I love the exercise of really writing. I'm an avid reader and 12 years of Catholic school set the standards for written communication over 65 years ago.
I always told my granddaughter that I wouldn't let her go to college until she learned to write … to me! She will graduate from UNH this May and she still hasn't learned to write … to me. Since I do not text or e-mail and play out on the web in Facebook, etc. it means that I seldom hear from her. I miss her.
There are letters in my life that I have saved and treasure. The only letter my grandfather ever wrote to me is one. And the letter from my paternal grandmother congratulating me on the birth of my son, her first grandchild, is another.
A letter says so much more than "Hello." It isn't in a cryptic shorthand. It carries a bit of your soul with it. Love, human questions, hope, etc. And a letter can travel with you without any battery or plug-in charge unit.
Just a piece of paper saying "I'm thinking of you right now."
I wish I could still write to those of my family and friends who are no longer at their mailboxes.
Sarah Zuccarelli
Center Sandwich
More Love of Letters
The cover of the May issue looks so delicious. It made us want to rush right out to breakfast. We've been to some of the places mentioned in the article and we plan to try others.
One of my favorite features is the road trip (Weekender), and what could be better than getting to know Canterbury (May issue) where I've lived for a year and a half.
However, the real reason I was moved to write is your editorial about letter writing. I love to write letters (and also receive them), and I correspond with several friends, my 90-year-old mother and a 15-year-old granddaughter. It made me happy to read that someone else values it.
Jean Cummings
Canterbury
Bypassing the North Country
Well, since you asked for comments, I do have one. Being a Berlin (way up north!) native, I quickly realized that NH Magazine, interesting as it is, bypasses the North Country. We are not a highly populated area but we too have unique restaurants, very good doctors that provide excellent care and even in Berlin a hospital that is nationally recognized as a superior facility. We also have many interesting activities throughout the year.
Lucille Bergeron
Berlin
Editor's Note: It may seem like we ignore Berlin and the North, but we aggressively seek out good stories from your neck of the woods. Our "Evening Out" writer will be looking for things to do in Berlin this summer. Feel free to contact her via courtneyhoppe.com.
Forgotten Player
Your article on divorce ["A House Divided," May 2012] suggested hiring an attorney and a therapist, but neglected a very important and helpful resource – a financial planner. Next to the parenting plan (if there are children) the division of assets is the most critical component of the divorce process. A Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA) – a financial planner with expertise in the area of divorce – looks at income needs, tax implications and other financial issues to help parties arrive at an agreement that is fair and equitable. Attorneys are knowledgeable in the law but do not have the financial education required to value a pension, determine the cost basis of a house or calculate the after-tax value of an IRA, just to name a few issues that might arise. A collaboration of attorney, CDFA and client ensures a plan that addresses all needs.
How often have we seen the newly-divorced woman who insisted on keeping the house she could not afford in exchange for the retirement plan account?
Jill Boynton, CFP, CDFA
Cornerstone Financial Planning LLC
Newington
It's Just Fisher
I'm just reading the March issue. Thumbs Down on the use of fisher cats. It's fisher. The cats are the baseball team.
When I was recently in the NH Natural Resources Steward class we were repeatedly corrected when someone used fisher cats!
Pauline Pinard Bogaert
Former staffwriter
Philadelphia Inquirer
Editor's Note: You are correct, but just about everyone in the state refers to the fisher as a fisher cat. We appreciate your desire to protect the language from dissolution, but sometimes the common parlance just has to have its way.
Picturesque Places
I am an amateur photographer. I would like to see an article every month or just a short blurb on a page that recommends a place in the state that is great for taking photos. This month the article on the Londonderry bed and breakfast was great; I had no idea it was there. I am going to go over and ask if I can photograph the garden.
Rosemary Carter-Molnar
Litchfield
Editor's Note: Our March issue "Hidden Places" story had a number of suggestions for photo bugs.
How About "Normal"?
I would like to see more articles and common interest stories from, shall we say, more "normal" New Hampshire-ites. I was born here and I am now 55. I would have to say I don't relate to many of the articles. There is more to NH than Exeter, Bedford and Portsmouth. I do enjoy looking at how the other half lives but some months it's just too much.
How about an article on how the economy is affecting NH? Interviews with some of the homeless in Nashua and Manchester? Maybe I have missed articles in the past that pertain to the subjects I have mentioned and if so, I do apologize for missing them.
Wendy Reed
Nashua
Corrections
The Q&A photo of Stephen Talarico in the May issue was incorrectly credited. The photographer was P.T. Sullivan.
Margie's Dream Diner mentioned in the breakfast story in May is also open on Sundays from 7 a.m to 1 p.m.
In the May issue story "Our Gentle Giants" it's unclear that the Anheuser-Busch Brewery "Beermaster" tour is not free of charge. The tour is actually $25 for visitors ages 21 and older and $10 for visitors ages 13-20.
In May's Seasoning recipe for chocolate cake, the correct amount of gluten-free mix is 3/4 cup along with 1/4 cup almond flour.
