Moral of the month:don’t look at Oak Cliff with anything but rose-colored glasses. Our article in the April issue was an honest, factual assessment of Oak Cliff as it is, not as many of its residents – mostly in Kessler Park – would like it to be. Telephone calls to the office have mostly berated us for showing so many black people in our photographs. Alex Burton on KRLD put on his booster’s hat (Alex lives in Kessler Park) and announced “the magazine went out of its way to show the warts and none of the smiles.” That kind of reaction, of course, is reminiscent of small-town Babbittry, and it says far more about Oak Cliff than our article did.
But it’s a shame. The rest of us, including readers outside of Oak Cliff who’ve commented to us, saw the story as a celebration of the place, warts and all. The worst period I can remember living in Dallas was right after the assassination of President Kennedy, not because of the idiotic things that were being said about us across the world, but because of our own defensiveness in response to those things: if you uttered a word that was slightly critical about Dallas, the entire citizenry was liable to jump down your throat. We can be thankful that those days have long since passed, and most of Dallas has grown up. If Oak Cliff is a little bit behind, we can wait for them.
Each day’s mail (if it gets here) brings something new to ponder. We’re not normally in the habit of publishing letters to our subscription department, but we couldn’t resist sharing this one with you.
To: WA
From: Ann R.
Thought you might like to take Mr.Putnam up on his offer.
Ann Richardson, Circulation Director
D Magazine
2902 Carlisle
Dallas, TX 75204
Dear Ann,
Thank you for your note advising us that our subscription is running out. Both my wife and I enjoy D Magazine very much- on those infrequent occasions on which we receive it. (More on this later.)
We place D Magazine right up there with the other great publications of our time, like … oh, Time, Playboy, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. We really enjoy it. No fooling. Except we don’t get it very often.
Now Ann, we are not native Dallasites, nor Texans for that matter. We have only lived here for eight (8) years. So maybe, we thought, this is the way things are done. You know, the customs and mores of the area. Well, to our surprise, when we called and indicated to you good folks that we hadn’t received D for three (3) months, the girl indicated shock and dismay. “No siree,” the girl said, “you folks should receive D every month.”
Well, Ann, we did … for about four (4) months in a row. That has been the record. In March, for example, we missed our D Magazine. Admittedly you tried to make amends by sending us two copies in April. We would much rather have had one (1) copy in March and one (1) copy in April. That way, we get some variety.
So, here we are. We really do want to subscribe to D for another year. We love it. But we are just a bit skittish. There is this feeling that perhaps we won’t get D for eleven (11) months. Then twelve (12) issues all at once.
Ann, what we have decided to do is make a bargain with you. Enclosed is our renewal commitment. If you will promise that we will get 10 out of 12 issues, that is over .800 and a great batting average in any league, we will pay up and not complain.
If, however, you fall back into your old ways, you and your staff must promise to be our slaves for a day. Waiting on us hand and foot, beck and call, all of that. Deal?
Sincerely, Charles S. Putnam
If a city’s spirit were not such a fragile thing, the loss of one man would not count so heavily. But when the man embodies those qualities of civility and character which are so rarely encountered in this world, his death becomes more than apersonal loss to a great family. The death of Edward Marcus is a loss to Dallas. and it will be deeply felt.
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