Your Letters From the July 2017 Issue

Send letters to Editor Rick Broussard, New Hampshire Magazine, 150 Dow St. Manchester, NH 03101 or e-mail him at editor@nhmagazine.com.

Visit Your Library
Thank you for the wonderful article about New Hampshire’s many “library firsts” that appeared in your June issue [“Informer”].

As you noted, the Granite State has long been a leader when it comes to libraries, and we’re proud to say that, from Colonial times right up through the present, libraries have always played vital roles in our communities. We at the State Library are celebrating our 300th anniversary throughout 2017 — yes, it bears repeating that we’re the first state library in America — and we’ve been thrilled by the enthusiasm that patrons from all walks of life and all corners of the state are showing, not only for the state library but also for their own public and school libraries. We encourage all readers of New Hampshire Magazine, no matter where they live, to explore their communities’ libraries often, and we invite them to stop by and visit us at 20 Park St. in Concord. We’ll be happy to meet you!

Michael York
Acting Commissioner, NH DCR

Good Company
Just wanted to say thanks again for including me in your May issue of “women artists to watch” [“Remarkable Women”]. It was quite thrilling to be in such good company, and the huge positive response I received was gratifying. It’s quite validating and who doesn’t like that? I hope our paths cross again sometime soon.

Rosemary Conroy
Studio Buteo
Weare

Too Political

Started reading the “Feedback” section in June’s issue and wondered when you became a political magazine? Well, my “stand” on Free Staters is go back to where you came from.

Teri Parker
Lifelong NH resident
Hampton

Editor’s Note: It’s hard not to talk about politics when living in New Hampshire. That’s why we have a monthly feature titled “Politics,” but we make efforts to keep it informational and not editorial in nature. We publish as many letters as we can in our “Feedback” section as long as they relate to stories and issues we’ve covered in our pages.

Dusting Off Memories
Holy flashback, Batman! Your “Yankee Clipper” story from your June edition took me back some 50 years or so. I once was a steady customer at Joe’s (“none off the top, just trim the ends”) when he was in his old place on the east side of South Street and then in the brick house on the other side, and I don’t think I ever knew Joe’s last name, but I do remember Gob as a younger man, as we both used to be.

I haven’t had a professional haircut since I was 19, when I bought a Trim Comb, and now I style my hair by letting it fall out and tangle in my combs and brushes. But the barbershop feeling of being gently coddled, what with the bib snapped round my neck, the smell of powder, the sound of scissors and the hum of the clippers will stay with me forever (my last cut cost me $1.25).

Thank you ever so much for taking half a century off my odometer. And give my regards to Gob, who once cut my now-graying hair, and to all the remaining barbers, what with their Zen-trance-inducing mixture of idle talk, gentle hair care and the feeling of the dust-off brush at the nape of my neck

Thankewverymuch.

Greg the Beatnik
Derry

Editor’s note: Much to our delight, every once in a while we still receive handwritten letters. The letter above was sent to us via old-fashioned, handwritten snail mail.

Finally!
I appreciated that, finally, you published an issue [June 2017] that represented New Hampshire beyond the “yuppie” carpetbaggers in the southern part of the state’s lifestyles, but unfortunately, the segment [in “Choose Your Own Adventure”] by Marty Basch demonstrated a lack of knowledge about the Lakes Region. Lake Winnipesaukee is only one lake within this region. It also includes, among others, Newfound Lake and Mt. Cardigan, whose elevation is 3,156 ft. — significantly higher, as mountain elevation is measured, than the Ossipee Mountains’ Mt. Shaw, which overlooks Lake Winnipesaukee. 

Having been tempted to write to you voicing my disappointment in your publication for its emphasis on lifestyles and personalities that do not represent what defines the real New Hampshire nor its lifelong residents, I refrained until this article demonstrated an incorrect snapshot, rather than a true knowledge of the area. New Hampshire is not Massachusetts tax-evaders who populate the southern interstate region, and who dabble in outdoor lifestyles while altering the political makeup of the “Live Free or Die” residents. New Hampshire was once one of the last bastions of the rugged individual, the honest day’s worker, and those with love and respect for nature and her bounty and beauty. Now, it saddens me to watch the infectious homogeneous influence of “going along to get along” scoffers of the rugged individuals, while dabbling in and donning the patina by wearing L.L. Bean clothes on weekends.

You might benefit by reading the Yankee Magazine, which represents the roots of individuals that sustain the true qualities of Yankees and their valuable, self-sustaining lifestyles.

Margaret Robie Dickinson Miller, Ed.D.
Bristol

Editor’s Note: Thanks for your comments and the correction that now has been made in the online version of the story. For the record, Marty Basch is one of the most knowledgeable folks we know when it comes to writing about the NH outdoors, but mistakes sometimes happen, even to experts. Also for the record, this magazine is a wholly owned subsidiary of Yankee Publishing, and we always read and enjoy Yankee Magazine.