In the mid-80s, I wrote some reviews for the Voice. That was a big moment for me. (One was a rave for Mark Crispin Miller's 'Boxed In: The Culture of Television.') For another review I did, the editor circled every time I repeated a word and wrote in red pen "echo." Really? 1/
This was editing? (I repeat words a lot.) Then he took out a sentence that I loved. His reason: "I don't think most Voice readers would agree with this." Uh... what does that have to do with anything? The sentence was true, whether Voice readers agreed or not! Sad thing was... 2/
...I was too inexperienced to fight back. And I had not yet learned the contributor's trick of inserting a couple of fuzzy thoughts that I cared nothing about, so editors could remove them and feel like they made their contribution. Still, proud to have had my byline there. END
