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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1999-07-14, Page 66 Wednesday, July 14, 1999 1 TIMUS DV( CATE � LICATION$ MAIL REGISMA'RON NUMBER 07511 lin! B i i tt • er and Editor Pub Don Smith General Manager Deb Lord Production Manager Published by J.W. &Eedy Publications Limited 424 Main Street South, P.U. Box 850 Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6 • (519) 235-1331 EDITORIAL Sout uron stays on the right track e often complain about our munic- ipal politicians and the decisions they make. Now it's time to laud them for sticking to their guns. The reeves from Exeter, Usborne Township and Stephen Township presented a united front at last week's Huron County council meeting in Goderich and helped to vote down a last ditch effort from a citizen's group pushing a single -tier government for Huron. In a recorded vote, a motion to reconsider the single -tier was defeated 41-20. The weighted rep- resetitation vote breaks down to 16 councillors voting nay, nine voting yay and one absent:' Members of the 'The Concerned Citizens for the Promotion and Implementation of a Single Tier Government in Huron told council, before the vote a single -tier system would save the most money and maintain services better than neighbouring municipalities working on their own ' amalgama= tions like Exeter, Usborne and Stephen have. The group said Huron residents haven't heard enough information about .restructuring and the single -tier idea was struck down unfairly. Elected representatives from Exeter, Usborne and Stephen have looked at all the options. They considered the single -tier and didn't like what they saw. A centralized government out. of Goderich doesn't bode well for Exeter or its sur- rounding townships. Exeter, Usborne and Stephen councils, through the merger committee, have worked hard to come up with the best local solu- tion to the province's forced amalgamation push. They have jumped numerous hurdles to come up with the merger proposal that was presented to county council on July 8. There is still much work to do and hard decisions such as staff reductions to come. The three municipalities are a natural fit; they have similar issues and goals; rural residents of the townships go to Exeter for their shopping and other consumer needs and the town is considered the central service centre for .the area. Yes, a single -tier government would give. Huron County a lot of weight at the table provincially. ;But it would also mean we would be governed out of Goderich. The concerns of Goderich natives are not the same "of Exeter area residents. Those con- cerns should be addressed by their own, separate governments. Exeter area politicians have a long history of begging to disagree. with the county and Goderich, sometimes with good reasons, sometimes without. This time they fought, and won, the good fight. • About the Times -Advocate ,.r:¢ Address & Office Hours Times -Advocate, 424 Main Street South, P.U. Box 850, Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6. Our office is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. Contact Us By Phone or Fax Classified ad & subscription Wei ....(519)`235-1831 24-hour automated attendant • (519) 235-1336 Fax number for all departments . = (519) 235-0766 Subscription Rates One year,.rste for addresses in Canada: $35+0ST Two year.rato.for addresses in Canada: $63+GST , One year rate for addresses outside Canada: 1102 Call (519) 235-1331 to order a subscription. Classified Rates . . Word ads: $9.00 for 20 words, 154 for each additional word+ GST. Notices (births, deaths, announcements, Leave dead artists alone Imagine my surprise last week when I read a review on. the new Ernest Hemingway novel, "True at First Light". Unsure of my sanity, I shook my head and rubbed my eyes. Could this be true? A new Hemingway novel? Isn't this the man skrti4 ended his life with a shotgun in 1961? Yes, it is the de man and no, he isn't writing from that great writers' afterworld in the sky, it just turns out some people thought it would be a good idea to cash in on Hemingway's enduring' popularity by publishing a book Hemingway chose not to release for public eyes. But Hemingway is dead and dead people have no rights and in this world where the mighty dollar is increasingly becoming more important, dead artists ,are going to find every scrap of their unreleased material dragged out of old musty files and sold in the neighbourhood big box store. And this is wrong. If Hemingway had wanted "True at First Light" to be published, he would have done so while he was alive or left strict orders in his will that it be published. Otherwise, it can only be assumed Hemingway didn't publish the novel because he found it unworthy for publication. But apparently some greedy publishers think Hemingway's name will be powerful enough so sales of the book can line their pockets. And that, after all, is, what the game is all about -- making money. This trend of publishing second-rate material from famous dead people is not new, but it is increasing. Another example is John Lennon, whose image and art- work is plastered everywhere. Lennon, who was mur- dered in 1980, can now be seen in Apple computer - magazine ads, lying in bed with his wife Yoko Ono in a picture that must have been taken about 30 years ago. Do you think if Lennon were still alive he would appear in Apple commercials? Would Lennon, one of the great- est idealists to come out of the, rock 'n' roll culture, want to help computer companies make more money? In addition to his own image, Lennon's drawings can be seen on coffee mugs and neck ties. Work Lennon originally intended to be drawn just for his son Sean is now being mass marketed like South Park memorabilia and Star Wars action figures. Things are getting _.o bad that you don't even have to be dead to suffer the indignities of commercialism. Author J.D. Salinger, who is just as famous for his reclu- siveness as he is for his masterpiece novel "The Catcher in the Rye", has been the subject of attention for about the past year. It began when self -promoting writer Joyce Maynard, best known for writing the book the Nicole Kidman movie "To Die For" was based on, published her memoirs on her early '70s affair with Salinget. She was 18, Salinger was 53. Maynard's latest pub- lic stunt was to auction off for $156,000 14 love letters Salinger wrote to her. Maynard claims she needed the cash to put her children through college. The latest news is that Salinger's daughter will be publishing her memoirs next year. Salinger must be thrilled. A man who has shunned pub- licity for over 30 years and who has refused to publish books because he can't stand "playing the corporate game" now sees his name in print more than ever. It can be argued that Salinger, by his writings, is a public figure and has no right to complain about tell -all memoirs. But is a man who hasn't pub- lished since 1966, granted no interviews and rarely been seen in public really a public figure? And should private love letters be sold to the public? No, and by the way, who would want to read love letters from a 53 - year -old man written to an 18 -year-old girl? Not me. Apd the situation is only going to get worse. New digi- tal technology allows directors to place famous dead people in new commercials. Fred Astaire now sells vac- uum cleaners. I can't wait until Elvis Presley appears in a McDonald's commercial and Janis Joplin shows up in a Southern Comfort ad. Here's a word to those money -hungry people who want to cash in on a famous person's name or work or image --- hey, these people are dead. Have a heart and leave them alone. 144:.1. 4f4 SCOTT NIXON AND ANOTHER THING coming events, memoriams, cards of thanks): $11.00 + GST for up to 30 words, 104 for each additional word. All ads must be pre -paid:. The c1; ► ssified ad deadline is 'Monday at 10 a.m. 4►4 ' Display Advertising To place a display ad, (519) 235-1331 weekdays 8:30 to 5 p.m. or evenings (519) 235-1336 (leave message) or toll-free at 1-888-270-1602, Deadline: Friday 4 p.m. E-mail Us - TA e-mail addresses consist of the person's first initial and last name followed by ata.eedy.com. 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