"Craigslist Unclassified," Bradley Campbell and Matt Snyders, May 7
When I saw the bloody keyboard image on the front of the May 7 issue, I got that sick feeling that has become normal in the last year and a half. You see, Katherine Anne Olson, whom we called K.O., was one of the first people I met at college. What you call a gory story, I call a murdered friend and teammate. I could write about how horrible it has been for everyone who loves her (and there are a lot of us) or how awful it is to see the same old AP photos in the news more than a year after her murder. It's not about me, though, and I want K.O. to be a person more than a story. So, respectfully, I'd like to submit a postscript to your piece:
K.O. liked to wear purple sunglasses and a leather jacket in combination or separately.
She liked her half-sized Oreo milkshake extra thick with extra whipped cream.
Katherine was one of the best team members and (later) fans that St. Olaf Women's Cross Country could have asked for.
She had every reason to believe that she would save the world.
She loved this:
I can make all things well,
I know how to make all things well,
I desire to make all things well,
I will make all things well.
And you will see with your own eyes
that every kind of thing will be well.
— Julian of Norwich
Thank you for your time.
S.K. Estill
Boulder
It was with great despair that I read Westword's main story last week. The reason I despaired was that it was a syndicated article from Minnesota. You'll have to excuse my anger, but I am a strong believer in print, and in the Westword that has had great scoops in the past, including the corruption when DIA was being built and the Air Force Academy rapes. If Westword is syndicating, it must mean that Village Voice Media wants to cut costs so much that Westword no longer is a local paper.
The irony is that Craigslist took as much classified advertising from Westword as it did from anyone else. Now Westword is wasting ink on it. Westword is smaller and slimmer than it was five years ago. Perhaps with syndication like this it should be named the Rocky Mountain News and follow in its footsteps.
Alex Teitz
Denver
"Craigslist Unclassified" was the best article ever. Cheers to Mr. Campbell and Mr. Snyders. My friends and I look forward to your paper every week. Keep up the great work.
Craig Adams
Aurora
Playlist, Cory Casciato, April 30
Cory, I suppose you thought you were doing every music fan in Denver a favor with your write-up on the Americans. Scathing reviews are fun to read, easy to write, and you probably thought you'd show your boss at Westword what a good writer you are. No, they're not Phish or Tortoise or 311. But they are all excellent musicians (I've worked with them) trying something new and seeing how it goes. You write that they "should question their lives"? Just how pretentious and arrogant do you need to be to write well?
Congratulations, Cory! With a paragraph and an opinion, you managed to torpedo a few local guys who are happy to play their original music for next to nothing.
Zach Quale
Minneapolis, MN
"Buy Mile High," Patricia Calhoun, April 30
Thank you for shining a flashlight on the epic problem of outsourcing almost all of our manufacturing to China. From the Fourth of July T-shirts from my local sprawlmart (made in China) to the certified official U.S. postal scale at my local post office (also made in China), I am finding it increasingly difficult to not only support my own community with my purchases, but my own country.
S. Johnson
Wheat Ridge
