Letters to the Editor
Keep The Paper Coming
To the Editor and Staff,
I live in the Cheesman Park area of Capitol Hill so I don’t often have occasion to see copies of your neighborhood newspaper. But recently my wife and I came across a stack of your papers in a restaurant.
Your paper looks good, with lots of neighborhood news. It is obviously supported by numerous neighborhood businesses.
There are not many neighborhood newspapers that can boast 60 years of service to their community. You and the Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. are to be congratulated for your long service to your neighbors. I know how hard it is to produce such publications on a consistent basis over so many years. I founded Life on Capitol Hill in 1975 (when your publication was 15 years old) and published it for 19 years. My publication has since had four publishers and is now 45 years old.
I firmly believe neighborhood newspapers are what make neighborhoods strong. May you continue to serve the good folks of Park Hill for many years to come.
— Stuart MacPhail, Cheesman Park
Breathing Plastic Is Scary
Re: Tracey MacDermott’s May Climate Crisis column, “When It Rains Plastic”
Nice column on the ubiquity of plastics. Particularly these micro-plastics that can be ingested or breathed in, is scary. The hubris that we can ignore the environmental externalities of all our farming, manufacturing, and disposal activities will eventually lead to our downfall.
— Bob Homiak, Park Hill
Being Around Books
Re: Last month’s coverage of the Park Hill Book Store’s 50th Anniversary
I moved to Montbello in early 1971. Since my best friends lived in Park Hill, it was natural for me to get involved there. When the bookstore was started I immediately got acquainted with its possibilities. My experiences with macrame and pottery were fun but I realized that my talents were elsewhere.
In April of 1974 I was able to begin volunteering as a front-end sales person. My youngest child came with me and I was thrilled to put in my hours doing what I enjoyed most, being around books. As a child and teen I read incessantly at my home in Porto Alegre, Brazil. As if I sensed that my future was going to be in the U.S. I read many American authors in Portuguese translation. After arriving in the U.S. in March of 1962 I read only in English. Hawaii was my first book. I only understood about half of the story. But no matter. I persisted to the end and still remember how much I enjoyed it.
For 41 years I was a volunteer, mostly on Friday afternoons. Some of my most precious memories are of children and teens that wished for a used book, and I was able to give them one. They were so happy to walk out with a book that they could keep and read at their leisure. Also, from time to time, someone would come in and find the book they had been looking for and couldn’t find anywhere else. Their smiles were the best!
From 1995 to 2002 I assumed the manager position. John Eberhardt (since deceased) would buy obscure books and keep them at the store to help increase our new book inventory. As they sold I would order them again. I was amazed at how many would be interested and purchased them. Just like John, I had help from many others, with suggestions or help in the many endeavors that were required to keep the store open.
I am happy that I helped the Park Hill Bookstore succeed and congratulate it on its 50-year anniversary.
— Bettina Basanow, Montebello
We love your letters, and give preference to those that address an issue that has been covered in the newspaper, or a topic that is Park Hill or Denver-specific. Join the conversation and make your voices heard. Send letters to editor@greaterparkhill.org, and include your full name, and the neighborhood in which you live. Deadlines are the 15th of each month, for the following month’s issue.