I promised myself when I undertook this little stint with the Glendale News-Press that I would not take seriously any remarks directed at me for what I wrote. Now, however, I want to make an exception. I have a few words for a Bill Fabian who has taken special aim at me for my political views and my dereliction of duty as a teacher ("Left-leaning columnist doing a disservice," Mailbag, Oct. 4).
On the latter point, I want to relieve his mind, and on the former, I want to understand it. The thought of telling Fabian wherein I think his head is firmly wedged, was thankfully only a fleeting impulse. By and by, a better nature kicked in and I saw an opportunity for a meeting of minds which, in the long run, is so much better than a butting of heads.
It's not like I don't understand the gentleman, having scores of friends and family who lean to the right in their politics as I do. I have lived my entire life in a community well-stocked with conservatives. When or how I became the black sheep in my own extended family likely dates back to the '60s, when civil rights and the Vietnam War grabbed so much of our attention. I come from a family of arguers and my first political discussions took place around the dinner table, which was always thick with lawyers and teachers with strong opinions. When we weren't laughing, we were arguing. Sometimes it got a little overheated, but it never got personal. Sometimes our views were profoundly different, but never to the point that we lost respect for each other. We disagreed, and we still do. But it doesn't really matter because we still laugh together, and that will always trump politics in our family.
