Read Online Harvestman Lodge by Cameron Judd - Free Book Online Page A

purposefully iconoclastic while we do it. We’re not – I repeat, not – charging out like knights to destroy beloved perceptions for the sheer delight of doing so. That simply is not our goal.”
    Brecht’s harping tone aroused Eli’s first moment of doubt. He had no intention to suggest the magazine be “self-consciously iconoclastic,” but he also had no wish to ignore the best practices of research to promote local legends that might have no solid foundations. His name would be on the masthead of the magazine, after all, and probably be seen at some point by those university professors for whom he’d worked as a researcher. He wanted it to be something he could be proud of.
    So he decided to ask a question that might be risky. He had to know what he was getting into here, even at peril of rudeness.
    “David, tell me straight: is TYLERVILLE AT 200 going to essentially be a smiley-face puff piece for benefit of the Chamber of Commerce?”
    Brecht almost came out of his chair, making Eli think he was angry. But oddly enough, Brecht started to grin. “I’m so glad you asked that question. It’s a blunt but valid query. The answer is, no. No, no and no again. Not a ‘puff piece’ by any stretch.”
    “Glad to hear it.” That, apparently, was that.
    It wasn’t. Brecht kept talking. “But a promotional publication, yes. That must be clearly understood. Promotional in the sense of being aimed at illuminating the most positive parts of the heritage of the local community and revealing those as foundational to the best aspects of the Tylerville and Kincheloe County we know today. This community has been shaped by its history, from its founding on through the difficult years of the Civil War and beyond that into the 20th century. I want to illuminate that history, and how it has made us who we are. If along the way we encounter historical issues that are, uh, unusually delicate – slavery, for a ready example – I will be the final arbiter of if or how we address those matters. You will have a high degree of control and oversight of the publication, but I am who and what I am, the editor, and as such I hold final editorial control over this newspaper and any associated publications it might create. Including TYLERVILLE AT 200 .”
    Full editorial control of his own had not been asked for or expected by Eli, but Brecht’s dictatorial tone annoyed him. He had to remind himself of the old dictum that freedom of the press belongs to the man who owns the press.
    “I wouldn’t anticipate anything else,” Eli said evenly. “You are the editor here.”
    Brecht nodded. “We will encapsulate and record the heritage of this county and town, from start to present, in a manner that does it full justice, and which is easily accessible to the average reader. But just as you, in creating your resume and work samples to apply for this job, have presented a truthful but positive picture of yourself, so also we want to present a truthful but positive picture of our community. We’re going to put our best foot forward.”
    Eli understood Brecht’s point. Even so, surely a community’s honesty in looking at itself was in itself a positive aspect of that community. It crossed his mind … but not his lips. This was a job interview. Prudence demanded he not be argumentative or confrontational.
    So all Eli said was, “I think we can create a fine publication.”
    “Glad to hear it. I agree.”
    “Will you want me to work from primary sources? I did gain some experience with that in school.”
    “We’re not in academia here. We’re creating something for a wide, general-public audience, many of whom have little or no higher education. There is no reason not to take advantage of the interpretive and investigatory work done by prior historians and scholars. A particularly important source for us, for example, will be Hadley King’s book, our more-or-less official town and county history. He brought me a fresh copy this