tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post249074252477141429..comments2024-03-26T03:46:04.937-07:00Comments on Books in Northport: Dear Friends, What Are We Telling Each Other?P. J. Grathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12693462910472164289noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post-8109223829316327352021-05-06T15:58:27.208-07:002021-05-06T15:58:27.208-07:00And here is a highly relevant comment that a frien...And here is a highly relevant comment that a friend left on Facebook: <br /><br />"I enjoyed this post very much. I had a saying when I helped move the mail in Ann Arbor and Traverse City....' We move mountains every day.' Indeed I did move an amazing amount of mail day in day out, year in year out, walking through all kinds of weather, drenching rain, snow and ice but also beautiful days. I remember walking many miles along a golden carpet and canopy of leaves on sunny fall days. It was the best of times and the worst (blizzards) of times. In more than thirty years the mail was stopped only a few times because vehicles couldn't more. Some of us still walked out." <br /><br />Walked out on their routes, that is, right, Steve?P. J. Grathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12693462910472164289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post-2664993021611072072021-05-06T07:33:54.172-07:002021-05-06T07:33:54.172-07:00Well, it isn't quite that there are NO comment...Well, it isn't quite that there are NO comments but that comments come to me in other places than here. Facebook comments are one way, e-mails another. This morning I have two e-mails on this post that I want to share here. Perhaps because both commenters are book authors, they are shy about putting their names out on my blog, concerned that other readers might think they are self-promoting. Since such is not the case, however, I am taking the liberty of copying and pasting their messages here.<br /><br />First, "Thank you ...for the incredible column on letters and recorded voices and the postal service springing from your reading of 'The Postmistress.' I am grateful for the way you connected the novel's focus to the present moment of crisis with USPS. So appreciated it all."<br /><br />Then (and here I quote only the first part of the message): "Love your blog today, loved that novel when I read it, and yes, bringing back banking to the post offices would be terrific. The past administration savaged the postal system. Was that all about mail-in ballots? Or the mania for privatizing? I've spent most of my adult life waiting for the mailman to bring something exciting and for many years my dearest relationships (even romantic ones--don't ask!) were epistolary."<br /><br />I suppose postal service is particularly dear to our reading/writing crowd, but every time I visit the post office, wherever I am, I see plenty of ordinary people whose lives are being made easier because they can take care of business face-to-friendly-face. And this is part of our American heritage!P. J. Grathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12693462910472164289noreply@blogger.com