Opinion
4A
Thursday, July 23, 2020
From the editor’s desk
I’m good
with going
virtual
I
’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a fan of
science fiction. You can see my love of the genre
throughout my apartment.
The “2001: A Space Odyssey” poster from Japan (thanks
to a dear friend), boxes of comic books, the numerous
plastic models from the Terminator 2 Hunter Killer Tank to
the Battlestar Galactica, and the collection of action figures
(probably around 200 or so and growing at a rate I question
whether I can sustain) — all of that makes me a nerd. I’m
good with that.
And for so many
FROM THE EDITOR
nerds, one single over-
arching event has
PHIL
become something
WRIGHT
of Mecca: San Diego
OBSERVER EDITOR
Comic-Con.
Don’t let the name
fool you. This is no mere or even big comic book con-
vention. Comic-Con has evolved into the largest pop cul-
ture festival in the world. Toymakers produce exclusive
items available only at the annual convention. Major Hol-
lywood studios reveal their blockbusters there. But the real
highlights are the guest panels, where filmmakers, actors,
writers, producers and other stars of pop culture take to
stages to reveal their upcoming projects or simply engage
in a Q&A with the audience.
I’ve never gone to Comic-Con. And due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, no one gets to go this year.
Instead, I and nerds and anyone else can attend Com-
ic-Con @ Home, which began Wednesday. And those
panels — all 350 of them — are going to be available for
free on the official Comic-Con YouTube page: www.you-
tube.com/user/ComicCon.
I’m so good with that.
The virus and how we are dealing with it has disrupted
our lives in so many ways. But it also has revealed ways we
can connect to one another.
Once-in-a-while virtual meetings have become just
another part of the workday. The video conferencing app
Zoom has become so popular we now say things like, “I’m
Zooming this afternoon.” Doctors see patients via telemedi-
cine. Choirs and bands provide virtual concerts in real time
(that sounds like science fiction right there).
The brains behind La Grande’s creative performance
space, hq, have joined the virtual revolution, just like Peak
Lifestyle Studio and Loveland Funeral Chapel and other
local businesses and nonprofits. While the coronavirus is
not going away, the pandemic will. But our need to connect
to others is not going away, and thus going virtual will stay
part of our lives from now on.
Science fiction has proposed this in one form or another
for decades. Meetings where people don’t leave their homes
and instead participate via a holographic projection, for
example. But we find we don’t even need that kind of tech.
We just need a big enough monitor to see everyone at the
meeting.
And I can’t help but think there can be substantial cost
savings from this tech. Some state agencies, for example,
require regular meetings of all their employees to gather in
one place, usually Portland or Bend. All that comes with
travel costs — gas, food and lodging. Not cheap.
Making those big meetings virtual, however, should cut
down on those costs, maybe save the state — and therefore
the public — a little money.
Yeah, I’m good with that, too.
Other views
Time to take pen in hand
I
can’t recall the last time I
wrote or received a hand-
written letter, but it’s time to
send such letters again.
The reasons why the hand-
written letter died are obvious:
email, text messaging and cell-
phones. With how quick those
innovations make whipping off a
note, why would anybody take an
hour to hand-write one?
But how much better off might
we be if we started sending such
letters again?
I’ve kept every handwritten
letter I ever got, in boxes in my
attic. One Saturday in 2000,
when I was moving from Pitts-
burgh to Washington, D.C., orga-
nizing and storing stuff soured
my mood.
Until I stumbled upon a hand-
written letter I’d received in
1985.
It was from a fellow I’d
gone to Penn State with, who’d
become an editor in Bangor,
Maine. As I read it that Saturday
in 2000, it took me back 15 years
— to exactly who I was at age
24. I laughed out loud reading it.
I also found a stack of pink
envelopes from two ladies,
Bonnie and Tracey, who attended
the same college as my friend
Griff. An anonymous letter he
had them send me during our
freshman year in 1980 led to a
robust correspondence, and I
dated Bonnie for a spell after
we graduated. Rereading those
letters that Saturday in 2000, I
laughed so hard that tears tum-
OTHER VIEWS
TOM
PURCELL
COLUMNIST
bled down my face.
The handwritten letter is per-
sonal and deeply satisfying in
ways that electronic communi-
cation will never be. Email, no
matter how well crafted, simply
isn’t memorable.
Consider a letter my grand-
father hand-wrote on Nov. 28,
1928.
With great eloquence, he con-
soled his best friend’s wife on the
loss of her mother. He wrote that
letter when he was 25 — nine
years before my father’s birth.
My grandfather died when my
father was only 3. That letter is
among the most cherished items
I have from a grandfather I never
got to meet.
Now, during the COVID-19
pandemic, the handwritten letter
has begun a comeback. Miss
Manners and others encourage
writing to thank the many people
battling the virus on the front
lines.
They also suggest writing
to elderly nursing-home resi-
dents and others who’ve been
isolated and shut in for months
— because simple kindness and
compassion can benefit both
writer and recipient in these
unusual times.
Could the handwritten letter
help us address deeper chal-
lenges, too? Instead of posting
strident snark on social media,
why not take time to think things
through and explain your view-
point to a movement leader, a
mayor or anyone else unaccus-
tomed to receiving thoughtful,
heartfelt letters?
Writing by hand calms the
thinking process. It brings out
our better angels. It helps convey
clarity and bring understanding
to complex matters.
I’ll bet writing by hand would
help letters’ senders and recipi-
ents alike begin to realize they
have more in common than not
— that our communities are
not as divided as we may think.
Most simply have different ideas
for achieving the outcomes we
all desire.
We won’t know until we try.
So, pick up a ballpoint pen and
write some “thank you” cards to
people who’ve sacrificed for all
of us during the pandemic. Then
write some memorable, uplifting
letters to folks who’ve suffered
in isolation for months.
That’s a good start, anyhow.
About the Author
Tom Purcell, author of “Mis-
adventures of a 1970’s Child-
hood,” a humorous memoir
available at amazon.com, is
a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
humor columnist and is nation-
ally syndicated.
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
President Donald Trump: The
White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,
Washington, D.C. 20500; 202-456-1414;
fax 202-456-2461; to send comments,
go to www.whitehouse.gov/contact.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley: D.C.
office: 313 Hart Senate Office Build-
ing, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.,
20510; 202-224-3753; fax 202-228-
3997. Portland office: One World
Trade Center, 121 S.W. Salmon St.
Suite 1250, Portland, OR 97204;
503-326-3386; fax 503-326-2900.
Pendleton office: 310 S.E. Second St.
Suite 105, Pendleton 97801; 541-278-
1129; merkley.senate.gov.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden: D.C. office:
221 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, D.C., 20510; 202-224-
5244; fax 202-228-2717. La Grande
office: 105 Fir St., No. 210, La Grande,
OR 97850; 541-962-7691; fax, 541-963-
0885; wyden.senate.gov.
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (2nd Dis-
trict): D.C. office: 2182 Rayburn Office
Building, Washington, D.C., 20515,
202-225-6730; fax 202-225-5774. La
Grande office: 1211 Washington Ave.,
La Grande, OR 97850; 541-624-2400,
fax, 541-624-2402; walden.house.gov.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown: 254
State Capitol, Salem, OR 97310; 503-
378-3111; www.governor.oregon.gov.
Oregon State Treasurer Tobias
Read: oregon.treasurer@ost.state.
or.us; 350 Winter St. NE, Suite 100,
Salem OR 97301-3896; 503-378-4000.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen
F. Rosenblum: Justice Building,
Salem, OR 97301-4096; 503-378-4400.
State Sen. William S. Hansell
(29th District/Athena): Salem office:
900 Court St. NE., S-423, Salem, OR
97301; 503-986-1729. Website: www.
oregonlegislature.gov/ hansell. Email:
sen.billhansell@oregonlegislature.
gov.
State Rep. Greg Barreto (58th
District/ Cove): Salem office: 900
Court St. NE., H-384, Salem, OR 97301;
503-986-1458. Website: www.oregon-
legislature.gov/barreto. Email: rep.
gregbarreto@oregonlegislature.gov.
State Rep. Greg Smith (57th
District): Salem office: 900 Court
St. NE., H-482, Salem, OR, 97301;
503-986-1457. Heppner office: P.O. Box
219, Heppner, OR 97836; 541-676-5154;
Website: www.oregonlegislature.gov/
smithg. Email: rep.gregsmith@oregon-
legislature.gov.
Oregon Legislature: Legislative
documents and information are avail-
able online at www.leg.state.or.us.
City of La Grande: Mayor Steve
Clements, City Manager Robert Strope;
P.O. Box 670, La Grande, OR 97850;
541-962-1309; fax 541-963-3333.
Union County Commissioners:
Donna Beverage, Matt Scarfo and Paul
Anderes; 1106 K Ave., La Grande, OR
97850; 541-963-1001; fax 541-963-1079.
Wallowa County Commission-
ers: John Hillock,Todd Nash and
Susan Roberts; 101 S. River St., Room
202, Enterprise, OR 97828; 541-426-
4543, ext. 11; fax 541-426-0582.
Elgin City Councilors: Mayor Al-
lan Duffy, 501 N 11th St., 541-437-1016,
mayor@cityofelginor.org; Mary West,
260 N 5th Ave., 541-805-0443, council-
or3@cityofelginor.org; Kathy Warren,
PO Box 697, 541-786-9611, councilor6@
cityofelginor.org; Risa Hallgarth, PO
Box 525, 541-437-9462, councilor2@
cityofelginor.org; Rocky Burgess, 800
N 14th St., P.O. Box 854, 541-786-2417,
councilor1@cityofelginor.org; David
Reed, 1011 Detroit St., PO Box 368;
541-975-3306.