was just as reluctant to invite him into her office and listen
to his ranting and raving. She'd heard he was long-winded
and could go on for some time. "Just a moment," she
answered. "I'll be right out." Then she quickly saved her
story on the computer and braced herself for what she felt
sure could turn into an ugly confrontation.
Expecting to find an angry-looking skinhead much like
Spencer had described last night, she was surprised to see a 92Melody Carlson
large, tall man wearing blue jeans, a dark green parka, and
a full head of hair. But it was his facial expression that gave
him away. It was as if the hatred had been etched deeply into
his features. His mouth turned down at the edges and a deep
line furrowed between his brows. She doubted this man had
ever laughed much.
"I'm Maggie Carpenter, the editor of the Pine Cone." She
made this announcement without extending her hand in
greeting. Perhaps it was petty of her, but after having read
his letters, she just couldn't force herself to shake his hand.
He glowered down at her. "I want to know why you're
college writing class. I use correct grammar and punctuation,
not printing any of my letters in your paper. I got an A in my
and my spelling is pretty decent. Maybe you people just
don't believe in freedom of speech!"
"We don't print every letter we receive, Mr. Ebbert."
Actually, other than his, they usually did. ''And it has
nothing to do with freedom of speech."
"Yeah, well, I thought the editorial page was a place
where the paper allows everyone to express their opinions
7whether or not the editor agrees with the content. Am I not
correct, Ms. Carpenter?" He pronounced the "Ms." as if
pelting an insult her way.
"That's correct. We quite often print letters with differing
opinions-the diversity adds interest to the paper. As you
may recall, last summer we quite regularly published Greg
Snider's letters even though he was quite critical of the views
of the newspaper and of me personally."
"Right!" He growled as he reached into his parka.
Maggie took a sudden step back, fearing that this man could
actually be armed and dangerous. Back at the Times, they
had security guards and metal detectors for moments like
this. But he simply removed a wrinkled sheet of paper and
stepped forward to wave it in her face. "Well, here's another
letter that I'm certain is contrary to your views. Is there any
~reason you can't print it in this week's paper?"
"There may be. But I'll need to look at the letter-"
Looking for You All My Life93
"I'm sure you will!" His voice grew loud and he snatched
it back from her. Just then Scott opened his office door and
leaned his head out to see who was making all the noise. Mr.
Ebbert continued, "I'm sure you'd look at it real carefully-
right as you chuck it into your trash can!"