[Austin-ghetto-list] jaxon's rant, part 1+

[Frances Morey]

Jack,
As if life weren't complicated enough I went ahead and stuck my head in the
mouth of the lion. I submitted a copy of my book to the "Chronicle" for
Review. I certainly hope that they don't know I consider you a friend, or
that their angst might rub off on anyone else in your age demographic. (I
let on that I was in my late 50's in the book.) The age gap is probably at
the root of your contretemps with those kids. They probably still don't
trust anyone 30 years older than they are. Yet I am anxious to have someone
review "The Skinny on Weight Loss: One Woman's True Journey to Fat and
Back." Whether it is good or bad the publicity might help generate sales.
I do get $5 royalty on books bought from Xlibris.com, but only $1.60
for books sold thru Amazon.com. "Life's a bitch and then you die", I once
saw written on a T-shirt.
Frances


On Fri, 05 Oct 2001 14:23:29 -0600, jaxon41 wrote:

>  Fontaine & Fellow Mavericks Everywhere:
>  You've been warned, ghettoites--this is a lengthy rant spawned by
righteous
>  self indignation and anger at Thought Policemen posing as Upstanding
Liberal
>  Do-Gooders!  Unless you've got time on your hands, don't even bother to
>  start on this one.
>  
>  Seeing Fontaine's post about how the 20th Anniversary issue of the
Chronicle
>  mentioned some of us, I picked up a copy.  I don't usually bother
anymore,
>  after Louis Black sicced his trained attack dogs Michael Ventura and
Jesse
>  Sublett on me three years ago and then denied me space to defend myself
in
>  the rag.  Some of you may remember V's review of my comic book Lost Cause
>  that I'm talking about, where he called me a shoddy historian, my work
>  racist, and me a racist personally--along with every other Creative Sin
in
>  the world.  (Thanks Tary for your letter in my defense.)  Louis practices
>  the kind of editorial policy perfected in Nazi Germany, so why read the
>  Chron on a regular basis?  Yes, I know--it's the Only Alternative we've
got
>  and I still pick it up when there's a spread on old friends who've died,
>  like Keith Ferguson, Doug Sahm, etc.  Plus, I hate to harbor grudges;
they
>  eat at you and damage your Inner Self.
>  
>  So, I start thumbing thru the fat issue to Ventura's column, where he's
>  pretending that he's Sarah Clark's lifelong friend and crowing "Freedom
of
>  the press baby!"  Right, V--freedom to malign and slander my reputation
and
>  then deny my right to respond to your bullshit charges.  Asshole..  I see
>  that they run the cartoon I did for their first issue.  Not that they
asked
>  my permission to use it or paid me, of course, but there it is--proof
that I
>  supported these bastards from day one.  Plus, they call me "famed comix
>  artist Jack Jaxon"--shows you what they know as I never, ever, use my
given
>  name Jack with my penname jaxon.  But, methinks, maybe their heart's in
the
>  right place and it's time to let by-gones be by-gones and patch up my
>  relationship with the Chron.
>  
>  Then I get to their timeline (p. 87) where it is noted that in Oct. 1998
I
>  become "alienated" from the Chron over the Ventura review.  HMMM--why, I
>  wonder, would they put that in as a memorable event?  Especially since
they
>  (Louis) used Gestapo tactics to hushup the affair once people started
rising
>  to my defense and the review was recognized as a heavy-handed hatchet job
by
>  people knowledgable about the medium of "graphic novels"--which V
obviously
>  wasn't.
>  
>  Once this review was printed, I went down to the Chron office, rebuttal
in
>  hand and fully expecting them to publish it.  Louis had told me over the
>  phone that I could respond in a letter-to-the-editor with a 600 word
limit.
>  I wanted more.  I knew--from reports of several people who worked under
>  him--that Louis was a tyrannical bastard who ran the Chron with a
sweatshop,
>  penny-pinching mentality, but I thought that Nick and Sue Barbaro were
>  decent people who would recognize the justice of my case and let me be
>  heard.  Louis wasn't there the day of my visit but I ran into Nick out
back
>  & proceeded to bend his ear in my "I've been fucked over and I deserve
>  redress" mode.  Nick, of course, stood behind his editor and pretended
that
>  this was all overblown in my mind and No Big Deal.  So much for Freedom
of
>  the Press and a Sense of Fair Play, thinks I.  These guys are just
>  carpetbaggers getting rich off Austintacious advertising revenue in a pub
>  that caters to "community values" and the Hip Lifestyle.  They don't give
a
>  shit about artists, art, or moral issues--they're just out to make a
buck.
>  A harsh judgment?  We'll see...
>  
>  So do I give up?  No way.  Tauruses are nothing if not stubborn; we keep
>  going, step-by-step, plodding the earth and pulling our plow.  I leave 
with
>  Nick my point-by-point reply to V's smear with this 19 Sept. 1998 cover
>  letter to Louis:  "Because Ventura's "review" of my book amounts to libel
&
>  slander with malice aforethought, I think I'm entitled to respond to his
>  accusations that I'm a calculating racist, shoddy historian, etc, etc.  A
>  600-word letter to the Editor won't do.  Between Michael & Jesse 3 pages
>  were devoted to tearing me down & labeling the protagonist of my book a
dumb
>  Asshole.  By extension I'm all-of-the-above.  So here's my response to
this
>  crap, along with several panels of art that should accompany it on the
same
>  ground as their smear: a feature article.  I certainly didn't expect to
be
>  blind-sided like this by the Chronicle.  We all go back together a long
time
>  on the Austin scene.  I don't know why you want to hold me up to public
>  ridicule and try to damage my reputation, both personally and
>  professionally.  It boggles my mind that you would allow Ventura to piss
on
>  me in this fashion, even if you didn't like the book yourself."  Sorry,
>  jaxon, you know what happens with Custer Decisions: they're never
reversed,
>  so I was denied.  Thus my "alienation" from the Chronicle.
>  
>  Next installment--jaxon finds that V's scuzzy review is still in-my-face
in
>  cyberspace.
>  
>  


"The Skinny on Weight Loss: One Woman's 
True Journey to Fat and Back" by Frances Morey
Order online <www.xlibris.com/bookstore>
or by phone at 1-888-795-4274 Extension #276





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