Arch,
I've known Jonathon for a long time, though we have corresponded only
intermittently. All my earlier correspondence from him was most
gentlemanly and congenial.

I think he has been very generous towards all who are involved with
woodturned art. To the artist he has supported their artistry, both
directly through his (and Shirley's) purchases and indirectly by
generating greater attention for their work; to the larger body of
active woodturners, he has offered views of work that can broaden our
perspectives and provide inspiration; to those who only passively
appreciate woodturned art, he and Shirley allow us an opportunity to
view beautiful and stimulating pieces, some of which are not readily
available for viewing outside England. He does this all at his and
Shirley's own expense. Obviously he could be content to do this for
Shirley and himself alone (indeed, his insurance company might have
prefered he was less visible about his collection), but instead he and
Shirley choose to expend their own funds to create and maintain a means
for others to appreciate and learn from their collection.

So, I admire their generosity, and enjoy looking through their growing
collection, just as I did when they first started out and had fewer
pieces to share. I must confess I do find the scrolling a little
awkward, but that is really a most trivial thing in the context of the
great value and enjoyment all the other aspects of the site afford.

We all have times when we just don't feel like passively absorbing one
more whit of what seems to be ingratitude or abuse (which may or may not
be legitimately the case, but still seems real to onself) Obviously this
was his time and I know I have had my own moments. At those times, it is
easy to loose sight of the larger effects of our actions when we are
trying to not let prevail what we percieve to be the verbal bullies.
Again, I've been there (I didn't earn that COC for "nuthin"), and of
course, without any greater success in the enterprise.

In a moderated forum, it is unlikely the harshness of the earlier
threads would have been allowed to develop or remain in the way that it
has here. Again, one of the reasons I spend most of my time at the Wood
Central Turning forum. But most here move on and respond to each new
post on its own merit. I suspect this will be the course of things again.

Lyn

Arch wrote:
Thanks Lyn, That's the article. I think it should indemnify anyone
concerned about the consequences should Jonathan agree to pitch in. Do
you and others here welcome him or not?

I'm no pollyanna and I'm not condoning nor condemning anybody, but rcw
has survived many flaming threads and often the worst posters have
become (or resumed being) useful and reasoned contributors to rcw. You
are probably thinking; "takes one to know one."


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter



http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings