Though most prefer to rant in comments nowadays, John still finds the classic “letter to the editor” of value.  Here are a few selections.

In response to Kevin Williamson’s very worthwhile National Review article on Appalachia, John offered this response about the realities of coal mining.  The letter appeared in the January 27, 2014 print edition.  If you want to save yourself a whole quarter, you can read the full text of the letter here.

As a D.C. area Metro (subway) commuter, John faced a politically defining decision each morning:  from which of the two gentlemen handing out free papers would he accept—the conservative Examiner or the liberal Express.  As a regular reader of the Examiner, John occasionally had some bones to pick with them on  trains and automobiles and a few other topics that apparently have been relegated to the dustbin of history. (Nothing on planes, though.)

In 2012, John joined “the conversation” about farming at The Atlantic.  A scant three sentences from his 200 or so words (complete with a Wendell Berry quote) survived the editor’s red pen, but, hey, they did make it into the magazine.

The First Things of 2023 embraced The Camp of the Saints and John considered looking for the exits. Instead, he found his pen.

To their credit, the editors published the letter (and John has stuck around at least a bit longer).