Memories of Jeff Smith
Thank you for publishing the beautiful different articles to celebrate the life of our legendary journalist Jeff Smith ("Jeff Smith, 1946-2013", Aug. 15). I called him and met with him three times, about three different issues. I loved and cherished each of my encounters with Jeff.
I felt right away that he exactly understood the injustice I was mad about. He called me "a bulldog," and he wrote three wonderful well-written articles, à la Jeff Smith of course, because he wanted to "print the truth and raise hell."
Indeed, as per the articles in your paper, our Jeff Smith "championed strong writing and spirited reporting" with "a superior talent." Our Jeff was very "smart, lightening in print, compassionate, feisty, irreverent, outrageous, gifted with words, eloquent, passionate, worth reading, sharp, warm, authentic, never dull, ungoverned, funny as hell."
Indeed, Jeff "is an unforgettable character," who "kicked ass."
Jeff is gone now, and "the world lost one of the good ones."
I will always remember our very unique Jeff!
I was so lucky to have had the pleasure and the honor to meet him in my life!
Adieu cher ami Jeff!
Edith Shaked
American Apparel Outrage!
The advertisement in the Tucson Weekly of Aug. 15, 2013, on page 56 for hosiery from American Apparel is tasteless and offensive.
As a representation of a human being, it cuts off the body into parts that are then sexualized into pornographic boundaries connoting self-fondling. You would not show a concentration camp survivor to advertise a weight loss clinic. That would demean and insult an entire group of people, as this ad does to women.
Though the product is "made in the USA and sweat shop free", the message that is projecting through this pictorial is that things made in the USA are of low quality, not respectful of the human condition and will lower themselves to using sex in a cheap moronic fashion to insult half the human race. As an American, I don't want this pictorial to represent my national pride. Making matters worse, it's on the back outer page, which positions it to extreme visibility. It is not part of the "Adult section" enclosed within the back.
A suggestion would be to show a professional woman in a position of high responsibility, importance and authority dressed in a suit wearing your hosiery with comfort and style; just as you would portray male wear.
Pam Lipshutz
