Quick minor correction from a Willis fan: "Fire Watch" came first; the novels Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing... with the same Oxford time traveling mechanism were written afterwards. (Even though an FW character refers to events in DB... in sf terms, DB is a prequel?)

As good as the novels are, FW is darned near word perfect and still makes me cry.

What I so appreciate about Willis is her willingness to experiment and exuberantly share the results. Thank you for letting us know about this anthology; I'd missed the news! Now I have to go find out who George Saunders is. :)

Thank you for the eloquent honesty Rebecca! You're speaking for me too (not for the first time).

I skimmed a few of the letters and can't believe the vitriol some of the LWs direct towards you and each other. I worry that we have to understand what's behind all the spewing, in order to put the nation back on track, but - how unproductive and unseemly. Please, let's pull together and elect a Democratic president - either of these folks would do the job.

I always enjoy the humour in your postings and this one is no exception. Perfect mix of joking, analysis, and consumer-oriented info. (And I need to learn more about the whole superdelegate thing but let's not discriminate against people on the basis of their appearance; she'd probably do a fine job.)

Cannot wait to send this link to my lesbian art list and see what the girls come up with; in that way the web version is MUCH more user-friendly than the paper version.

Cheers!

"Media Watch" in Australia (your kind of show Glenn) had a segment this week about how next month's government summit has invited news organisations to send delegates (rather than just reporters). Some good quotes on the conflicts caused by "mutual backscratching" are in this 6 min segment:

http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s2185582.htm

(Note: ABC is publicly funded - for the moment)

Just wanted to thank Cary for the meta bits in this; I love it when the structure or shape of a work has an uber-message. Really enjoyed! (And agree with him that every piece of writing has an appropriate length, and that pixels are cheaper than paper...)

In the spirit of that message, I will make this letter short. :)

Thank you, King, from the bleachers. This was great!

I rarely post, so now that I'm here I'll just say that I appreciate your hard work, clear zesty writing style, and charismatic pitches for Salon. As an American living in the other hemisphere, you are THE guy helping me keep up with all the sports I miss. (March madness, pro baseball, college football are the worst aches.) If it wasn't for you and Andrew O'H and Stephanie and Glenn and the Broadsheet gang and Heather and Joan (not to mention all the hard news stories that Salon gets that the other outlets ignore) I would be even MORE homesick than I am, and likely MUCH crazier.

Here in Australia we have THREE types of football (Aus: "football codes") not counting soccer (which is just getting a foothold) and all of them are different from US football, which they call "gridiron". Many teams represent neighborhoods rather than cities, and the trades are fascinating because players can change not just teams - they can "switch codes" - for example, start playing the other kind of rugby football, the kind without the scrum, etc. And there are only 20 million people in the whole country so everybody knows some of the 'famous' players personally. I have learned WAY more than I want to know about cricket and swimming, but whatever...

My current favourite Aussie sports anecdote is about Brad "Freddy" Fittler, who recently switched from being an ultra successful football player, to coaching (in the same code). After his team turned around a game in the second half, a journo asked him what he said to them in the locker room at half time. And he said, "I don't remember." And then said something like, the players knew what they had to do and didn't need him to tell them. An impressive lack of fluff/BS which is very Australian. (Another less lovely aspect of Australian sport is that there are a few - by no means all - Aussie sportspeople and/or fans who behave unpleasantly when they lose. See: recent history of cricket...)

Anyway, King, thank you for helping internet sports reporting hold its head high. If you visit down under, you have a place to crash. Bring the family! We need the tourist revenue.

Cheers -

(No time to read the other letters. Don't care. Just writing to you.) This is SO well crafted and precise and excellent. You convey your personal sorrow, with lots of content, and let him speak from beyond the grave, in a very respectful and loving and thoughtful way.

I have been reading you for years and we have significant differences (that is to say, I love things in several genres you have dismissed, briskly, in these pages). But damn, you can WRITE, and never more so than today.

I have never read DFW (despite friends' urging) but I am going to, now, and thanks to you, in a somewhat informed manner. It sounds like he was in person nothing like I feared he would have been. To you and all his readers (and in fact, as you point out, all of literature will miss him), my deep sympathy. And to you David, wherever you are...give our best regards to Oriana Fallaci, and Angela Carter, and and and. Damn!!

Didn't see that coming... Terrific!

But they're all excellent! I mean, dangerous. #3