My Friend, Sylvan.

Sylvan was the last in a series of cats who have owned me during my lifetime. When he died, a decade or so ago, at the grand old age of nineteen, I didn't have the heart to look for another cat who'd have me. It simply became too hard to keep saying, "Goodbye, old friend!" Of course, it's entirely possible that I might have preceded the new cat into the great unknown, but let's not dwell on that.

Sylvan, as you can see in this photo, is dead serious with respect to his duties as watchcat.

This story first appeared in the Montgomery Journal, Rockville, Md., and later on the Trumbull and Core radio show, WMAL-TV, Washington, D.C.

Note to readers: I realize most of you will be unable to read the small print. If you click on the picture, it's likely you'll be rewarded with print that is readable to the naked eye. If this doesn't work for you, let me know (leave a comment or email me). Otherwise, enjoy!

Radio Daze and Knights - T&C and Me.

To be honest, I'm just sitting here wondering how I can justify the use of this title, clever as it might be, without having a clue as to what it means. If I figure it out, I'll let you know. Until then .....

Gather around, boys and girls, and I'll tell you a story. Once upon a time, in the last half of the 20th century, there was a radio program called The Trumbull and Core Show (T&C). It graced the airways of WNAL-AM in the Washington, D. C. area for more than 20 years. I began listening to Bill and Chris in the early 1980's. If memory serves, their format then was "Weather, News and Music", but they seemed to be encouraging greater listener participation.

I became a small cog in this juggernaut when I submitted a few short "bits", on the off chance that Bill and Chris could be duped into using the material on their show. I reasoned that my prodigious output as a Letter to the Editor writer (see earlier posts) would serve me well in this new venture. At least, it showed that I could produce quantity, and occasionally, on a good day, quality. Besides, I felt I was at least as funny as some of the people who were already getting on the show. So, during the 1980's and 1990's, I submitted hundreds of bits to T&C. They didn't use everything I sent; I suppose they thought they needed a little time for their own material. This is the first of a disturbing number of instances where they exhibited a real selfish streak.

On the other hand, they seemed to be giving away an enormous amount of free tickets to movies, plays, concerts, and meals at local eateries. I was incredibly successful at reaching T&C quickly when they'd say, for example, "The next five callers will receive two free meals from Red Lobster." In fact, it wasn't long before I became known as "David from Gaithersburg" because of this uncanny knack. So, between sending them bits and winning prizes, I spent an awful lot of time communicating with Bill and Chris. Indeed, Chris seemed to feel I sometimes called just for the hell of it.

Suffice to say this is the first in a series of posts describing my adventures in T&C-land. In addition to excerpts from "The Best of Trumbull and Core and Siltman" album, I'll tell you about the "Gross National Parade", Trumbull and Core University" and other highlights from this very special time in our nation's history.

Your faithful blogger will attempt to bring audio clips into future posts on this and other topics. In other words, if I can generate the required brainpower to incorporate sound into my blog , we'll have sound. Take it from me, the bits are much more enjoyable with Chris and Bill reading them.

Oh, yes! The title. Well, the post is about radio, the show was presented by two wild and crazy guys on weekdaze and T&C were like the Knights of the round table, except their desks were rectangular. OK! If you think of anything better, leave a comment or get your own blog.

Mr. Stiltman scores again

More often than one might think, my last name gets mangled when people try to pronounce or spell it. It's amazing how many variations I've encountered for a basically simple name, i.e., Silt - man. Once a guy looked at my name and spelled it out, "S i l t m a n - Stiltman, right?"

It's especially disheartening to get an article published, only to have it ruined because my name was misspelled. Some decades ago I mentioned this problem to an acquaintance who was an editor for the Washington Star and handled the letters they received. He suggested I write a piece about my propensity for writing letters to the editor because he had an idea for an inside joke.

My copy of the letter published in the Washington Star is so old that it is almost illegible (see link). I will reproduce it here and reveal the inside joke at the end. I have left out perhaps 25% of the letter for the sake of brevity and to minimize boredom.


Mr. Stiltman scores again.

At last count, over a hundred of my letters to the editor have been published in the communities in which I've lived. This seems a good time to reflect on some of the highlights of this unusual (some might say dubious) achievement, and perhaps even to ponder why a person would pursue such an endeavor.
There was, at least initially, a lot of righteous indignation, coupled with a conspicuous lack of courage. My first published letter, for example, appeared in the El Paso Times in the early 1950's above a pseudonym. While living in Montgomery, Alabama in the late 1950's, I finally mustered the nerve to use my own name.
Years later, in the Washington, D.C. area, the element of apprehension (which nut is going to call me this time?) was largely replaced by other feelings. As each letter appeared in print, I experienced a kind of instant ego-gratification (there's bit of a kick in seeing one's letter next to, say, Henry Kissinger's) as well as a feeling of participation in the political and social issues of the day.
There was even an occasional congratulatory call. Ironically, this often tended to make me drop my guard and get badly zinged. A case in point was the fellow who began, "It's wonderful we live in a country where everyone is free to express their opinions..." But he added, "No matter how perverted." It took a while to recover from that one.
In those days,I attempted to make my point, not in a deadly serious way, but with humor (although I sometimes slipped, none to subtly, into sarcasm). Being somewhat enamored of the better political cartoonists, I suppose I saw myself doing for the Letters to the Editor column what those guys were doing with their cartoons. My intent was, I'm sure, to slay the dragons of intolerance and ignorance, not with the heavy sword of preachments, but rather with the sharp rapier of humor and wit.
Shedding the more extravagant of my illusions of grandeur, I then introduced new wrinkles into what had become a hobby or diversion as much as anything else. For example, I had the same letter published in two and then three papers on the same day. Near the end of this orgy of self-indulgence, two of my letters appeared in the same paper on the same day.
Looking back, I feel I was motivated by several things: idealism, vanity, anger and perhaps just a desire to communicate. At least I'd like to think I've risen above the childish motive of simply wanting to get my name into print.
By the way, if you print this, be sure to spell my name correctly.

David Siltman

Note to reader: I find it amusing to look at the last sentence and then back at the headline. Even funnier is that the editor took pains to insure that the misspelling actually made the final version. Unfortunately,someone kept trying to correct it, but they finally got it wrong.

Freedom of Speech: 1950's Alabama

My 11/05/06 post described the tense racial atmosphere of Montgomery, Alabama in the late 1950's. It was a time of bus boycotts, freedom riders, and burning and bombing of churches. Some whites were tolerant and did what they could to oppose bigotry and reduce the level of violence. Unfortunately, these people were often ostracized, threatened, or worse. But it must also be noted that most whites growing up in Montgomery had been told by their authority figures (parents, preachers, politicians, editors, law enforcement officials), that Segregation was God’s will and Integration a Communist plot. So it’s no great surprise that many of these southerners felt their way of life was being threatened.

In any event, newspaper editors, for the most part, sided with the power structure. So it was with some trepidation that I wrote the following letter to the Editor. It was an attempt to poke fun at the bigoted opinions which appeared regularly in a daily column entitled, "Grandma". I did not consider my actions brave or heroic, especially since I had appealed to the editor for anonymity. But I did feel vastly superior to this editor who, by publishing my name with the letter, left my family in a very vulnerable position. We received several threatening letters and phone calls. I suppose he thought he was teaching me a lesson. Click here to see letter.


Ironically, I was never really comfortable with the term Integration. I suppose it was because segregationists always railed against "forced integration". The implication, of course, was that people of different races would never voluntarily live together in peace. I preferred the term desegregation, which I took to mean that each person must have the same rights and responsibilities as everyone else.

My experiences as a child growing up in East Texas had already convinced me that separate schools were not equal. I had only to compare the schools I attended with those available to blacks. Likewise,I could buy a house anywhere I wanted, assuming I had the money; blacks could not. The list of injustices committed is long and shameful.

This is not to say everything has worked out exactly as we had hoped. But who would contend that changes were not necessary and appropriate? What thinking person could, in good conscience, wish to return to the days of slavery, lynchings, and Jim Crow?

Although no one is guaranteed success in this country, everyone should have an equal opportunity to become successful.

Letters to the Editor: are they examples of Free Speech?

I started writing letters to the editor in Montgomery, Alabama during the late 1950's. One needn't have been a genius to understand that a degree of subtlety was required when writing anything which could have possibly been construed as an attack on segregation.

For the most part, my letters met this test, and escaped the attention of those in the city prone to violence. But one particular letter evidently went too far, and I started receiving late night phone calls. The messages ranged from heavy breathing to demands that I get out of town. My employer at the time, Western Electric, was encouraged to fire me. They refused.
In addition to being frightened, I was infuriated. Here was proof that, in a supposedly free country, I was unable to speak my mind without being threatened. I continued to write letters, albeit with what should have been an unnecessary amount of discretion .
After I left Montgomery, some months later, I received a letter which remains one of my prized possessions. It was from Ray Jenkins, managing editor of the Alabama Journal. He commented on a letter I had written and which appeared in the Journal. The subject of the letter was a weekly columnist who was, I felt, intellectually bankrupt.

My letter: Gandhi and Hitler
I wish to comment on the "As I see it" column in last Sunday's Journal. I was surprised, for example, to discover that Mahatma Gandhi was Hitler's right-hand man. It's really amazing how one can re-learn history with the help of an expert like Mr. Mahoney. He points out seemingly insignificant facts which, though a little circumstantial , culminate in a smashing indictment. For example, given the fact that Gandhi and Hitler were both vegetarians, the conclusion that they were fellow conspirators is inescapable.
Little gems of irrefutable logic such as this make my Sunday mornings complete.

Mr Jenkins letter:
Dear Mr. Siltman,
I keep handy in my desk an old yellow clipping headlined, "Ghandi and Hitler." Every time I get despondent, all I have to do is read it and get a lift.
Seriously, if a reader ever knocked me out as effectively as you did my colleague, I'd never write another column.
Ray Jenkins
Managing Editor
Alabama Journal

Letters to the Editor for fun and profit

During most of my adult life, I wrote letters to the editor of various publications, ranging from the local Village News to the Washington Post and New York Times. The last time I counted, there were at least a thousand; over four hundred were published.
I'm not sure why I stopped but I suspect this blog will bear the brunt of my renewed urge to put pen to paper(finger to keyboard?) . I keep the published letters in a file; many are so old they are difficult to read, others hopelessly outdated, and a few still not ready for prime time. I will include some of the better ones in this blog. Due to my appalling lack of expertise in things like scanners, the first letters will be short since I'll be typing them. As time goes by, I hope to scan letters (and other items of interest), insert them into posts, and publish them as part of my blog. I will also include remarks putting them into context - historically as well as societally.

This letter was written 40 years ago. It appeared in the Washington Post on Christmas Day.

Christmas Spirit
A recent news article revealed that a Washington couple had begun a fight to reverse their 1957 conviction of Virginia's anti-miscegenation laws. They were sentenced to a year in jail but the sentence was suspended on condition that they leave the state.
Lest the unsophisticated among us suspect that this amounted to banishment, Virginia's Attorney General Robert Button recently pointed out that they were free to visit or live in the state, so long as they do it separately.
Mr. Button is obviously overwhelmed by the Christmas spirit.