John Capener

One of the first things I noticed when I moved to this area was the coverage, including coloured photos, the local paper gave to Athletics and Harriers.

A fact I was able to report to my former clubmates in Auckland, where the coverage had been relegated to the fine print in the results in the major newspaper. 

On that score locals here are well served by the Beacon. As for the letters to the editor, with some 25 years of sharing "my words of wit and wisdom" I have come to understand that sometimes an issue was better argued by some other scribe or that there has been more than enough coverage, hence the reason my learned missive didn't make the cut.

No big deal. Expecting one's letter to always be printed is to set yourself up for disappointment. The fact of the matter is, if you have a point to make, keep it brief and pertinent, otherwise you risk boring the reader.

As for any criticism that my comment on a subject may have been a bit harsh, my standard facetious comeback is "you should have seen the ones they didn't print!"

Lastly, might I just say that words like "lefty" and "woke" resonate only in right-wing echo chambers and are not the insult that some people think they are.