Newsletter

From: George Otto <g_otto@comcast.net>

Sent: Tuesday, September 3, 2019 4:12 PM

To: FPboard <fullboard@folkproject.org>

Cc: George Otto <GeorgeOtto@mac.com>

Subject: Newsletter Committee Report 2019-09

Newsletter Committee Report 2019-09

Things are proceeding as usual with the invaluable help of Kathi Caccavale, Pat Brangs, Liz Pagan, Bill Henderson, and Gary Pratt.

Nancy Kelner sent me a note for the Good of the Order about the recent passing of Jan Viehman. In the past several years such notices have been included in the GOTO section using a special black-edged paragraph format. I know we had a board discussion recently about whether this should continue, but at the end of the discussion I was uncertain whether we had arrived at a firm decision about the matter. I did mention to Christine after the meeting that I would forward any such submissions to her in future so she could let me know if they should be included. I sent Nancy's item to Christine, but since I hadn't heard from her by the next day when the newsletter had to be released, I followed the previous practice and included the item in the final version sent to the printers.

Christine was upset when she learned this had happened, letting me know that her wishes had been clearly expressed. I apologize to her for thinking the issue was unresolved and including the notification.

Perhaps the best way to handle this going forward is to have an independent "In Memorium" section for such notices.

Sincerely,

George Otto

Folk Project Newsletter Editor

newsletter@folkproject.org

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From: Patricia Brangs <pbrangs18@gmail.com>

Sent: Tuesday, September 3, 2019 4:25 PM

To: George Otto <g_otto@comcast.net>

Cc: FPboard <fullboard@folkproject.org>; George Otto <GeorgeOtto@mac.com>

Subject: Re: Newsletter Committee Report 2019-09

Unfortunately, per Evelyn’s email, we have had a lot of losses in the past couple months.So perhaps an In Memoriam section would be appropriate

From: Christine DeLeon <christine@christinedeleon.com>

Sent: Tuesday, September 3, 2019 6:52 PM

To: FPboard <fullboard@folkproject.org>

Subject: Re: Newsletter Committee Report 2019-09

Thank you George. No lingering hard feelings. Though I believe a more detailed response is appropriate, especially since I have had something come up and will not be able to attend the meeting tonight.

George reported correctly that I was disturbed over the inclusion of Jan's passing in the Good of the Order in the September newsletter. He is also correct that it took me a few days to respond to his email about having received the notification from Nancy. The reason for my delay in responding to him is because I was sick and not feeling up to a lot of computer activity for a few days. Staring at a computer screen when you can't breathe, you're coughing up God knows what and simultaneously enjoying a spectacular case of pink eye is simply not a good idea.

What George's report does not detail is the reason I eventually responded to him that I didn't think it was appropriate to use the Good of the Order for such notification. As I had clearly expressed in a prior Board meeting I believe it is important to avoid family privacy missteps and had preferred hearing from the families directly before reporting in the GOTO. While in Jan's case, I understood that there may not have been any known family member to report the loss. However I also felt it important to be consistent from month to month while the GOTO was still my responsibility and treat all occurrences the same so as not to appear to be playing favorites or assuming responsibility for deciding these questions only on a case-by-case basis. Simply stated, when in doubt .. policy over preference. I have since spoken with Evelyn Maurer and, to my great relief, she told me she did not feel slighted that her requests had been denied but then the rules appeared to have changed for another member's request, which was my major concern when I learned that the posting was made without my okay.

All this having been said, due to my academic schedule this Fall, the GOTO is no longer under my influence (thank you for the rescue Jean!) and I recognize the "que sera sera" factor in this new chapter where it is possible that not everyone shares my particular sensitivity. However, I would like to express my concern over the proposal to have a separate "In Memoriam" column in the newsletter going forward. This plan does not circumvent what I still believe is a potential family privacy land mine and I would be encouraged to see caution similar to what I had exercised applied to any reportings of this nature in our newsletter, be they in the GOTO or elsewhere.

Thank you all and have a great meeting!

Respectfully submitted,

Christine