LETTERS
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SIMPLE TIMES, GOOD PEOPLE I just read Anita Stienstra’s Sept. 24 piece about George and Winnie Colin (Poetry, Etc. blog, “Remembering George Colin”).
Throughout my 20 years in Springfield, I also came to know George and Winnie (the couple) and visited their gallery many times. (Each time they’d remind each other that I was the “lady from Illinois Times.”) Yes indeed, they were joined at the hip, proud of each other, confident and comfortable in their own little corner of the world. He, shy, professing to be a simple guy who likes to paint. She, confident of his genius and eager to leave no doubt about the artistic and monetary value of whatever you left the gallery with.
Many years ago (it must have been 1985 or ’86), Winnie and I wandered through a crowded storage room (which is now more of a gallery space) for a couple of hours. George’s work was piled and scattered everywhere, looking more like a garage in need of organization than anything remotely considered an “art gallery.” His charming art works appeared to have been gathered up and hastily moved out of the way so that he could make more room in his studio to do more, more, more. We blew off the dust, tugged at more than a few cobwebs before I spotted the one. I chose to purchase a charming snow scene (painted on a piece of scrap pegboard) that was tacked at four corners to cover a broken window, its job to keep out the December chill. Winnie didn’t miss a beat. She beckoned George, and claw hammer in hand, he freed the painting from the window frame, handed it over to me and proceeded to select another art piece to take its place.
Along with that snow scene (which was gifted many years later to a treasured friend) I purchased several pieces of original Colin work over the years. But my favorite is a lithograph of George’s self-portrait. It has occupied a prominent place in my home for more than two decades and reminds me of simple times and good people. RIP George. The world was a better place with you in it. My condolences to dear Winnie. So lucky in love. Sharon Whalen Sarasota, Florida
EXPENSIVE E-BOOKS Mr. McLane (Letters, “Cut web loopholes,” Oct. 2) is missing two important variables: jurisdiction and shipping costs. If I drive to a state with no sales tax and trade in my car, Illinois doesn’t get a penny in sales tax. Why should mail order be any different? And just as I would have the cost of gasoline to drive to another state, when I buy something over the Internet, shipping is usually far more expensive than the sales tax would be.
As to Amazon’s fight with publishers, I’m on Amazon’s side. E-book prices are ridiculous. Physical books have material costs, warehousing costs and shipping costs. The cost of selling an e-book is practically nothing; I’m paying less than $50 a year for web hosting, and if I wanted to go through the hassle of setting up a commerce site, I could. Yet Andy Weir’s The Martian is $15 for the hardcover and $8 for the e-book at Barnes & Noble (the hardcover is unavailable at Amazon). There’s simply no reason for this. No e-book should cost over $5. My next book’s e-book edition will be a $2 Amazon e-book. Steve McGrew Springfield
AMAZON WILL STAY Jim Hightower critically analyzes the strategic aspect of Amazon (“The darker side of Amazon.com,” Sept. 25). The underlying thesis of this analysis is a plea for socialism, an environment that would allow someone to make decisions for the consumer rather than let the consumer vote with his or her wallet. I suspect that a visit to a country that follows this approach would shatter any fantasy that this is good. Free enterprise creates an environment that allows the entrepreneur to find a better way of doing things for the consumer, who ultimately funds the venture and is happy doing so. Mr. Hightower cannot make Amazon go away.
The consumer does not want Amazon to go away. Jim Proffitt Jacksonville
