Hunting “A Dying Sport”
There’s good news from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Within the last few days, newspapers across the country have reported that 33 states have seen a decline in hunting license sales over the last decade. Hunting is a dying sport in the U.S., with Massachusetts leading the way.
According to the USFWS, Massachusetts experienced the sharpest drop in hunting, with a 50 percent fall-off in license sales during that time. If this trend continues, say analysts, we will see an end to sport hunting within 20 years.
Certainly, most nonviolent Americans today prefer their wildlife alive. The USFWS has also determined that less than 5 percent of us hunt, while 66 million of us are “wildlife watchers.” Rather than kill with a gun or crossbow, most people in this country would prefer to shoot with a camera or watch animals with binoculars. We predict that the tiny bunch of hunter holdouts will soon stumble out of the woods to join the mainstream Americans who have turned in droves to hiking, biking, rock-climbing, diving and other bloodless sports.
Amy Skylark Elizabeth
Research Specialist, The PETA Foundation
Norfolk, Va.
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The Mo Show
That [“Friendly Neighborhood Pirate Radio,” December 23, 2010] was a great article that highlights one of the best community radio stations in the Pioneer Valley.
I was particularly interested to hear your amusing account about being a guest on The Mo Show that struck a chord with me. I was a guest on her show when I was promoting my new book Art from Intuition, and in a manner of speaking I showed up late as well.
I’m a longtime friend and admirer of the lovable Ms. Mo, and I know firsthand the wit and humor that made her show appealing to so many listeners. Of course, Mo’s painterly gesture in snug-fitting jeans graces the front of my book as well, and I thought, this is a natural way for us to “Talk Radio” together, but it didn’t quite come together as I hoped.
Knowing my reputation for non-punctuality, Mo was at my door bright and early, offering a firm “Get in, we’ve got to go!” as a counter to my “I made us some coffee” greeting. And though it was sleeting out and very slippery, a determined Mo put her pedal to the metal, frantically driving around the cautious wimps heeding the speed limit that day.
Upon arriving, I remember some confusion about the key to the studio missing and problems with an amplifier or tapes not working that got me pretty nervous. Though Mo was a bit agitated, she calmly got it all together minutes before we went on the air, and all of a sudden we were live!
“Hi, this is The Mo Show with my guest, Dean Nimmer!” And like a deer in the headlights, I exclaimed something like, “Hi to you too, too!” and we were off to a radio broadcast. Mo tried to get me at ease with some small talk about the weather and hellos to friends that might be listening, but I completely froze up when we got into discussing my art and book. It wasn’t Mo’s fault, but I just couldn’t be spontaneous or funny talking about this book that took me five years to write, and I probably talked more about how much I liked the book’s cover than I did about what’s on the pages. It took a bunch of Mo’s prodding me during a Van Morrison record break to get the message — “C’mon, lighten up!”— that may have salvaged the last half of the interview (I was a half hour late in arriving, too).
Given that awkward debut, I’m probably not headed to replace Larry King, but I now fully appreciate the fact that Mo (Ringey) Gareau is a terrific radio host, and her Benign Girl blog showcases her exceptional talents as a writer to boot.
Dean Nimmer
Web comment
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I don’t live in the Valley. In fact, living in Montreal, I haven’t a hope of picking up [Valley Free Radio], but for a while Mo would send me copies of her show and I found them a pure delight. I know nothing about the Valley, have never been there, only know Mo—and yet listening to her shows made me feel transported into a local cafe in your community and [I got] to know various personalties through the filter of Mo’s clever wit and indefatigable intelligence. Her brilliance as an interviewer is to remain true to her own voice. I suspect this is the main reason her guests sounded perfectly at ease. I think it was Emerson who said that character was what we see in someone when they don’t know we’re watching. Over the airwaves, Mo’s character is remarkable and true.
Dwight Smith
Web comment
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Biomass: What Will Sullivan Do?
Let’s hope that he [incoming Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Richard Sullivan; “Patrick Picks Sullivan for Cabinet Post,” December 16, 2010] can come in and help put an end to this biomess. A good start would be to put all permits for biomass incinerators on hold untill all the guesswork and assumptions are figured out and a true environmental protective policy can be established for these types of plants. This would help prevent these major pollution sources from being grandfathered in, missing the tighter restrictions coming next year.
John Miller
Web comment
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Correction: The photo with last week’s StageStruck was incorrectly cropped and therefore incorrectly labeled. It should have appeared this way. The photo features (left to right) Jeannine Haas, Linda Putnam and Linda McInerney.
