Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 02:23:28 -0400
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
From: "Barry L. Newton" <bnewton at ashcomp.com>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Friday will probably be my last WSFA meeting
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>

Most Remarkably, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
>Sam Lubell wrote:
>
> > I spoke to the Gillilands yesterday.  They are not excluding any
> > paid-up WSFA member from the meeting part of WSFA meetings.
>
>Who is going to come to a house where they clearly aren't welcome, and
>aren't allowed to stay for the social hour?  For that matter, with
>traffic and Metro as unpredictable as they are, the only way people
>can be reasonably sure they'll be on time for meetings is to aim to
>arrive early.  Are people expected to sit in their parked cars until
>9:15?  Are those of us who arrive by train, bus, or bike expected to
>stand out in the rain or snow until that hour?  The idea is absurd and
>offensive.  No WSFA vote held in a house where some people are made
>to feel unwelcome because of their stand on a WSFA issue should be
>considered valid.
>
> > We don't all have to be best friends, but I think we can all get
> > along with each other and work together as long as we remember that
> > our fellow members are human too and have feelings that can get hurt
> > and brains that can misfire, make mistakes, and sometimes fail to
> > understand what we intended to mean.
>
>Because this attitude towards Lee's actions seems to be widespread
>within WSFA, this Friday will probably be my last WSFA meeting.  I am
>not ruling out the possibility that I will remain in WSFA, but this is
>seeming increasingly unlikely.

Like most WSFAns, I have wished desperately that the current fracas between
Keith and Lee would blow over, and life could continue in a fannish comfort
zone.  It's just not happening, and it's not going to.  Nobody involved can
back down.  At this point I must state my agreement with the points raised
by Walter Miles and Ted White, and insist that it is intolerable that Keith
should be excluded from any WSFA activity because of this unhappy
misunderstanding.  While I have, over many years, invariably supported the
rights of WSFA hosts over contentious members and the parents of unruly
children, this is a case where the host is plainly in the wrong.  And must
not be permitted to drive a conscientious and hard-working member from our
fold.

Barry