Former leading New Zealand publisher and bookseller, and widely experienced judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, talks about what he is currently reading, what impresses him and what doesn't, along with chat about the international English language book scene, and links to sites of interest to booklovers.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
LETTER TO THE EDITOR FINANCIAL TIMES - WEEKEND EDITION
Christmas is not a dirty word - from Dr.Karen Zumbrunn, Princeton, NJ, USA
Sir, Shame on the FT for printing such a headline (Holiday shopping wrapped up, Dec 4). Please don't catch the American disease of referring to Christmas as the holidays. I love Christmas. We all spend money at Christmas, even those of us cutting back. We still buy more food, baking supplies, sweets and treats. We buy Christmas gifts and Christmas decorations, lights and Christmas tress. We donate to charities, food banks and toy drives, all because of an overwhelming Christmas spirit.To quote a letter from a reader to an Ontario newspaper: "I've decided I'll only deal with businesses that feature the word Christmas in their advertising." So FT, let's not be afraid to use the word Christmas. It is not holiday that generates this spirit, it is Christmas.
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Christmas is nothing more than a consumer driven nightmare. Nothing wrong with the concept itself, but the masses of people I see are miserable and spending too much. We are all just buying (literally) into the advertisements. I work in retail and so many people making purchases look sick with worry because they are spending money they can not afford. They are frustrated and angry. It makes me sad. Stop spending money, I say. It means nothing, but supporting corporations! Have a great christmas by not throwing your money around. Boycott needless consumerism. Christmas, Xmas, Holidays, call it what you want. Not everyone celebrates the same thing.
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