Dear Friends,
There aren't many of us left anymore, but those of us who lived through the early nineties will never forget those tumultuous and idealistic times. At Nicolet High School there was a short-lived underground newspaper called, "Gathering No Moss." One of my classmates wrote an article about the sluttiness of the Homecoming Queen. Another one wrote an article about how funny the word "Spork" was. A third student wrote an editorial about the importance of voting. All three of them were suspended. Here's where I became involved. Not only did I physically handle a copy of this publication, but I actually signed a petition asking for the suspensions to be revoked. Honestly, I thought the Spork guy deserved it, but there was no space on the petition to explain the need for selective amnesty. By initialing that document, I was suddenly vaulted into the same category as the extremists who wanted reprieve for the Spork guy. And don't think there weren't consequences... I had to move three or four times before I finally got off all of the mailing lists.
Anyway, it turns out I come from a long line of dissidents (and by long I mean a line connecting two points.) In the 60's my parents chose to be tear-gassed rather than walk an extra two blocks around a group of protesting students on their way to class. This is a true story. The rest of their stories from the 60's are surprisingly uninteresting.
And speaking of surprisingly uninteresting, April's Hard Taco song is called "Hunger Strike." For those of you locking arms on the San Francisco freeways this weekend, this song may be just the inspiration you need. Be strong, brothers and sisters.
Sincerely,
Zach
