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Davis Journal

Reflecting back on over 1,800 columns

Feb 21, 2022 12:33PM ● By Bryan Gray

As I begin the 37th year of this weekly column, I have an assortment of thoughts.  But the first is my appreciation to the readers, most of whom have been delighted or outraged by some of the 1,850 columns. 

This past week I spoke to a woman who said she faithfully reads this column to her husband who is visually impaired.  She said she usually agrees with my point of view, which is different from a man who chastised me for “supporting illegal aliens” or the woman who cancelled her subscription because she thinks I “hate Trump and women.”  She’s correct about the former, and assuredly wrong on the latter.

There was the unsigned note from a man or woman claiming that I was a “big jerk,” and a Southern Utah man who told an editor he hated my column which he perceived as “anti-Mormon.” The editor politely suggested that he could still enjoy the newspaper by simply not reading the column, which the man agreed was a good compromise.

Then there was the woman, an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who found the column “refreshing” while noting that she also proudly displayed a photograph of then President Barack Obama.  Similarly, a couple transplanted to Utah from a neighboring state wrote that this column was “one of the bright spots in the newspaper” and provided a “missing balance.”

An English teacher wrote that “we need opinion writers like you,” while another concluded that she “enjoyed reading it” but thought I should send money to Donald Trump for his “Build a Wall” campaign.  One called to say she’d start attending church again if she had a “bishop like Cyclops,” another suggested I run for the Legislature, and still another let me know I would pay for my sins in Hell.

One reader, a former student, reads my column in Australia, another finds the column “irritating and irrelevant.”  Whether you agree with the column or think I should be nibbled to death by turtles, keep reading. We’re 37 years young!

Haven Barlow, the longest-serving legislator in our state’s history, died this past week. He was 100 years old, and I had worked closely with him on numerous Utah Senate campaigns.

A fond remembrance was his Monday telephone calls during campaign season. He would hear a fellow church member tell him about a concern, and he would call to order an additional brochure, postcard, or text change addressing the issue, all which resulted in extra printing, consulting, and mailing costs.

I explained it to Haven: “Senator,” I joked, “you have to stop attending church services during the campaign. It’s costing you a fortune!”

He laughed and responded, “You’re probably right about the cost.  Then again, I call the expense an investment which will pay off if I reach Heaven!”

You probably made it, Senator.

Legislative Update:  A Utah senator sponsored a bill banning mask mandates, prompted by his 7-year-old daughter “crying” at the thought of wearing a mask.  Okay, so our state is not “being run” by a church or political party. It’s apparently being run by a 7-year-old girl.  And if she doesn’t like green beans during school lunch, should we expect legislation banning vegetables as well?