My dad said he just saw something about lbing on CNN recently. CNN!!
Obviously an article here or there I think is fine - but since I joined
I have seen numerous publicity being mentioned. I thought it was
supposed to be more secret??

I agree with you on this. Thanks for stepping up. Another issue I see
happening is that parks will start having a standard 'no letterboxing
or geocaching' restriction which will just ruin it.

TeamKing


On Sep 6, 2004, at 11:36 AM, newsupd8 wrote:

> The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
>
> I know many of you out there are thinking it, and are too polite to
> say anything. So I will be the bad cop.
>
> Stop co-operating with journalists. Stop telling them about
> letterboxing. Stop taking them with you when you go out. I
> promise you it will ruin the sport. It will grow too fast. It will
> attract all the wrong people. And it will end the game.
>
> Letterboxing should grow slowly. Deep roots. Old growth forest.
> People should have a personal investment in the game. Word of
> mouth. Person-to-person. We should all be recruiting people
> who would enjoy what has been built here and who share the
> values this game represents.
>
> Dartmoor has prospered for generations because they keep the
> game secret and the clues close to the vest. Our clues are out
> for everyone to see. And find. And destroy.
>
> Too much publicity will create a game of rubber stamp collecting.
> Idiots like the guy in upstate NY who stumbled on a box and is
> keeping it as a lark. They will take the stamps and leave the box
> and log to blow in the wind. We are already starting to see much
> more of this on the trail now.
>
> I know many of you are greedy for more boxes to find - and more
> people means more boxes. And I know that it's cool to be
> in-the-know and let someone in on a big secret. And I know
> some of you want to "control" the media, make sure they get the
> "right view" of letterboxing. But it all leads to the same thing:
> Joy
> Riders who come and take and destroy and do not give back to
> the game.
>
> Now I am not foolish enough to believe that it is all bad news.
> many of us were introduced to Letterboxing by the NPR report or
> the Time article or other media and have become dedicated
> responsible members of the community. Heck, the whole darn
> thing started in the western hemisphere because of a magazine
> article in Smithsonian, so I know it's not all bad. But I think we
> need to proceed slowly and grow more deliberately.
>
> I am advocating a moratorium on any and all co-operation with
> the media on letterboxing until we can assess the damage (and
> admittedly, benefits) that the recent rash of publicity has done to
> the game.
>
> Of course, this is all voluntary. We will all do what we think is
> right. But these are my feelings on the subject. And I think I am
> speaking for many others as well.
>
> I'd like to hear discussion on the matter.
>
> Thank you for your time.
>
> newsupd8
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
>
> ADVERTISEMENT
> <81804_0704_b_300250a.gif>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> To visit your group on the web, go to:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/letterbox-usa/
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> letterbox-usa-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
> Service.
>
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- newsupd8 wrote:

> The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
>
> I know many of you out there are thinking it, and
> are too polite to
> say anything. So I will be the bad cop.
newsupd8
>
Topic of the week anyone?
Mizscarlet
>




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I agree. I'm still new and haven't had a chance to really get into it. But I just spent the past 2 days making stamps for what will be my Gotham Series (NYC). I really enjoy this, the creativity of it, the idea that a letterbox could set in some secret location for *years* and be stumbled upon by someone once in a while. I picture it just setting there, silently and secretly, biding it's time until some hunter comes alone and has a cool eureka moment. My luck, the whole thing will be ruined by people who's egos get in the way and think it's cool to be interviewed by some reporter who just wants to get a story, any story, in by the publication deadline to make points with some editor. These reporters couldn't care less about letterboxing.

My hope is that like most stories, this too shall pass. Some other human nature story will take it's place and the people who really don't care about letterboxing will go on to the next thing. I'd be willing to bet that's what will happen. This week's Time is next week's recycled paper.

So I say "No to interviews!" and the story will die a natural death.

June(missmoon) ....who thinks letterboxing is just cool as heck.

----- Original Message -----
From: newsupd8
To: letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com
Sent: 9/6/2004 12:37:49 PM
Subject: [LbNA] STOP CO-OPERATING! was Re: Newspaper article in AZ


The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

I know many of you out there are thinking it, and are too polite to
say anything. So I will be the bad cop.

Stop co-operating with journalists. Stop telling them about
letterboxing. Stop taking them with you when you go out. I
promise you it will ruin the sport. It will grow too fast. It will
attract all the wrong people. And it will end the game.

Letterboxing should grow slowly. Deep roots. Old growth forest.
People should have a personal investment in the game. Word of
mouth. Person-to-person. We should all be recruiting people
who would enjoy what has been built here and who share the
values this game represents.

Dartmoor has prospered for generations because they keep the
game secret and the clues close to the vest. Our clues are out
for everyone to see. And find. And destroy.

Too much publicity will create a game of rubber stamp collecting.
Idiots like the guy in upstate NY who stumbled on a box and is
keeping it as a lark. They will take the stamps and leave the box
and log to blow in the wind. We are already starting to see much
more of this on the trail now.

I know many of you are greedy for more boxes to find - and more
people means more boxes. And I know that it's cool to be
in-the-know and let someone in on a big secret. And I know
some of you want to "control" the media, make sure they get the
"right view" of letterboxing. But it all leads to the same thing: Joy
Riders who come and take and destroy and do not give back to
the game.

Now I am not foolish enough to believe that it is all bad news.
many of us were introduced to Letterboxing by the NPR report or
the Time article or other media and have become dedicated
responsible members of the community. Heck, the whole darn
thing started in the western hemisphere because of a magazine
article in Smithsonian, so I know it's not all bad. But I think we
need to proceed slowly and grow more deliberately.

I am advocating a moratorium on any and all co-operation with
the media on letterboxing until we can assess the damage (and
admittedly, benefits) that the recent rash of publicity has done to
the game.

Of course, this is all voluntary. We will all do what we think is
right. But these are my feelings on the subject. And I think I am
speaking for many others as well.

I'd like to hear discussion on the matter.

Thank you for your time.

newsupd8


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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

This weekend I just became a boxer after seeing the report on CNN. I
tell you this because I would normaly be sitting in front of my
computer doing nothing outside. I have to agree that to much media
can ruin the game. For example take the "Flash Mobs" that were all
the hype about 4 or 5 months ago. After the media got that
information "Flash Mobs" could no longer form because of being
expected to be there.... thus it has gone the way of the dodo. I am
thankful that I did see this story because I am now addicted to
something that just may help me to become more active and helping me
to do more healthy activitys. After finding my first box I was so
excited I had to go find all the clues for the boxes in my city. I
informed some of my friends about what I was doing and they became
involved because they thought it was neat. We now have our own group
called the "Nightcrawlers", so named because we went out to find a
box at 12:30am on Saturday night, and are planing our first set of
placements of letterboxes within the next month. I am also hoping
that this will help my friends family come closer together as they
have just had a problem with one of their daughters getting caught
with some "pills" at work. This will help this young girl to find
something to do with her time with us insted of spending it with
thouse who she use to call "friends".

Photobug


--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, TeamKing wrote:
> My dad said he just saw something about lbing on CNN recently.
CNN!!
> Obviously an article here or there I think is fine - but since I
joined
> I have seen numerous publicity being mentioned. I thought it was
> supposed to be more secret??
>
> I agree with you on this. Thanks for stepping up. Another issue I
see
> happening is that parks will start having a standard 'no
letterboxing
> or geocaching' restriction which will just ruin it.
>
> TeamKing
>
>
> On Sep 6, 2004, at 11:36 AM, newsupd8 wrote:
>
> > The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
> >
> > I know many of you out there are thinking it, and are too polite
to
> > say anything. So I will be the bad cop.
> >
> > Stop co-operating with journalists. Stop telling them about
> > letterboxing. Stop taking them with you when you go out. I
> > promise you it will ruin the sport. It will grow too fast. It
will
> > attract all the wrong people. And it will end the game.
> >
> > Letterboxing should grow slowly. Deep roots. Old growth
forest.
> > People should have a personal investment in the game. Word of
> > mouth. Person-to-person. We should all be recruiting people
> > who would enjoy what has been built here and who share the
> > values this game represents.
> >
> > Dartmoor has prospered for generations because they keep the
> > game secret and the clues close to the vest. Our clues are out
> > for everyone to see. And find. And destroy.
> >
> > Too much publicity will create a game of rubber stamp collecting.
> > Idiots like the guy in upstate NY who stumbled on a box and is
> > keeping it as a lark. They will take the stamps and leave the
box
> > and log to blow in the wind. We are already starting to see much
> > more of this on the trail now.
> >
> > I know many of you are greedy for more boxes to find - and more
> > people means more boxes. And I know that it's cool to be
> > in-the-know and let someone in on a big secret. And I know
> > some of you want to "control" the media, make sure they get the
> > "right view" of letterboxing. But it all leads to the same
thing:
> > Joy
> > Riders who come and take and destroy and do not give back to
> > the game.
> >
> > Now I am not foolish enough to believe that it is all bad news.
> > many of us were introduced to Letterboxing by the NPR report or
> > the Time article or other media and have become dedicated
> > responsible members of the community. Heck, the whole darn
> > thing started in the western hemisphere because of a magazine
> > article in Smithsonian, so I know it's not all bad. But I
think we
> > need to proceed slowly and grow more deliberately.
> >
> > I am advocating a moratorium on any and all co-operation with
> > the media on letterboxing until we can assess the damage (and
> > admittedly, benefits) that the recent rash of publicity has done
to
> > the game.
> >
> > Of course, this is all voluntary. We will all do what we think
is
> > right. But these are my feelings on the subject. And I think I
am
> > speaking for many others as well.
> >
> > I'd like to hear discussion on the matter.
> >
> > Thank you for your time.
> >
> > newsupd8
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
> >
> > ADVERTISEMENT
> > <81804_0704_b_300250a.gif>
> >
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> > To visit your group on the web, go to:
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/letterbox-usa/
> >
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> > letterbox-usa-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo!
Terms of
> > Service.
> >
> >
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi boxers:

I'd like to chime in on the issue of cooperating with the press! I feel
that Newsupd8 has it correct.

We must be very careful in how and with whom we discuss this pastime -
being evermindful of the Dartmoorian roots and how this hobby began in
this country. While the proverbial cat is out of the bag - let's limit
it's roar!

That being said - I'd like to tell you about a recent experience. Some
of you may know that I have a website on letterboxing. One week I saw,
through my webcounter software tracking page, a repeated visitor with a
domain name of Wiley Publishing, who was all over our website. To make a
long story short, an acquisitions editor contacted me from Wiley, asking
me to write a book on letterboxing. For those of you unfamiliar with
Wiley, they publish the "For Dummies" series of how-to books. They
wanted me to write a Letterboxing for Dummies! Yuccck~

At first I was quite taken with the idea - you know, name in lights,
Larry King [I say this tongue-in-cheek] but minor fame was a temptation
- for a minute or two. I then had a chance to discuss this idea with Sue
and 3 very good letterboxing friends - all names you would recognize -
and my gut decision proved to be their ideas - stay away - letterboxing
does not need another book or any more publicity.

As one of these letterboxing sages wrote me when I asked about them
about the Dummies book:

". . . it's stupid to tell people about your favorite fishing hole, and
then bitch when everyone goes there, catches the fish, and leaves litter
and trampled vegetation."

I feel that about sums it up~

Have fun and just get out there & box!!!

Mark Pepe
http://markandsuepepe.blogspot.com/

I wholeheartedly agree with the idea that we shouldn't
cooperate with the press. However, in reality, there
was no way to avoid the article in TIME magazine.
Those of us who participated with the writers of this
piece knew that an article was in the works and hoped
that our participation would prevent a result very much
like the one in the Tucson newspaper.

In fact, this Arizona writer contacted me and at least
one other letterboxer. I said I would answer questions
but never heard from her again. The other boxer chose
not to cooperate and this writer went off on her own.
You all have seen the result. It may have been better
if she had had some experienced guidance.

During my first couple of years, I avoided all media
inquiries. I absolutely love the cloak and dagger style
of letterboxing. However, in the last year or so the
hobby has grown so much that the word is definitely
out. I really would be surprised if interest would
dwindle just because we ignored the press. Funhog

> Stop co-operating with journalists. Stop telling them about
> letterboxing. Stop taking them with you when you go out. I
> promise you it will ruin the sport. It will grow too fast. It will
> attract all the wrong people. And it will end the game.

Not cooperating with journalists is not going to work. I am married
to a journalist, so I know how persistant they can be. Everyone
refusing to talk is just going to intrigue them more, they'll do the
story with or without our help, they'll go off and do their own
research and may end up reporting misinformation.

I for one learned about lbing from an article in an airline magazine
a few years back. There were not many letterboxers in the area I
lived in at that time, so I really had no opportunity to learn by
word of mouth. I'm thankful for that article. It has provided me
and my family countless hours of enjoyment.

I believe the right approach is for us to control what gets reported
by formulating our own response to press inquiries now. In other
words, have a sort of standard statement or a set of information we
share with the press, or maybe just some responses to frequently
asked questions.

JeLyBean

I have mixed feelings about media coverage. On the
one hand, it's nice to have new members interested in
the "sport" of letterboxing. More members mean more
boxes, more gatherings, etc ... Although I'm "new" to
this list (actually belonged several years ago, but
had to unsubscribe for personal reasons), I'm
encouraged to see all the new members joining now, as
well as new names on the list since I was here the
last time.

On the other hand, I don't want to see this fantastic
activity going down the tubes (and I don't mean
looking for a LB in a tube, either) due to some idiots
finding the clues and going out to wreck the boxes out
of sheer jerkdom. This is such a fun, family-oriented
activity. I know my daughter's reaction when we spend
time looking for a box and it turns up missing ...
multiply this by the number of families involved in
letterboxing ... you get my point.

Some media coverage is good ... too many details is
not. Arizona went WAY overboard with their article,
and if they did not get the box owner's prior
approval, it amounts to an invasion of privacy in my
opinion. Hopefully other news sources won't jump on
the bandwagon. The last thing we need is another
Western Upstate NY incident.

Songchick - who loves to tell interested people about
letterboxing, but won't give interviews. ;)


=====
Carpe Diem





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We placed our first letterbox a few weeks ago in Madison WI even though we had heard that we'd be taking our chances as far as thieves and vandalism...well....we are without our first box...sad to say...it was stolen before it even got started. Maybe we placed it in an area that was too public...maybe our clues were too easy...who knows. Any good ideas for placing boxes in an area with a "bad" reputation? MadCats

songchick wrote:I have mixed feelings about media coverage. On the
one hand, it's nice to have new members interested in
the "sport" of letterboxing. More members mean more
boxes, more gatherings, etc ... Although I'm "new" to
this list (actually belonged several years ago, but
had to unsubscribe for personal reasons), I'm
encouraged to see all the new members joining now, as
well as new names on the list since I was here the
last time.

On the other hand, I don't want to see this fantastic
activity going down the tubes (and I don't mean
looking for a LB in a tube, either) due to some idiots
finding the clues and going out to wreck the boxes out
of sheer jerkdom. This is such a fun, family-oriented
activity. I know my daughter's reaction when we spend
time looking for a box and it turns up missing ...
multiply this by the number of families involved in
letterboxing ... you get my point.

Some media coverage is good ... too many details is
not. Arizona went WAY overboard with their article,
and if they did not get the box owner's prior
approval, it amounts to an invasion of privacy in my
opinion. Hopefully other news sources won't jump on
the bandwagon. The last thing we need is another
Western Upstate NY incident.

Songchick - who loves to tell interested people about
letterboxing, but won't give interviews. ;)


=====
Carpe Diem





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Blue Heron...

---------------------------------
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Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

You could always do Word of Mouth clues. If you are not already a
member, you may be interested in joining the Great Lake LB Yahoo!
list. This would be a good place to get to know other boxers in
your area and make more private clue distribution either via the
list or directly to other list members in your neck of the woods.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LbGLK/

SpringChick


--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, linda mertens
wrote:
> We placed our first letterbox a few weeks ago in Madison WI even
though we had heard that we'd be taking our chances as far as
thieves and vandalism...well....we are without our first box...sad
to say...it was stolen before it even got started. Maybe we placed
it in an area that was too public...maybe our clues were too
easy...who knows. Any good ideas for placing boxes in an area with
a "bad" reputation? MadCats
>
> songchick wrote:I have mixed feelings about
media coverage. On the
> one hand, it's nice to have new members interested in
> the "sport" of letterboxing. More members mean more
> boxes, more gatherings, etc ... Although I'm "new" to
> this list (actually belonged several years ago, but
> had to unsubscribe for personal reasons), I'm
> encouraged to see all the new members joining now, as
> well as new names on the list since I was here the
> last time.
>
> On the other hand, I don't want to see this fantastic
> activity going down the tubes (and I don't mean
> looking for a LB in a tube, either) due to some idiots
> finding the clues and going out to wreck the boxes out
> of sheer jerkdom. This is such a fun, family-oriented
> activity. I know my daughter's reaction when we spend
> time looking for a box and it turns up missing ...
> multiply this by the number of families involved in
> letterboxing ... you get my point.
>
> Some media coverage is good ... too many details is
> not. Arizona went WAY overboard with their article,
> and if they did not get the box owner's prior
> approval, it amounts to an invasion of privacy in my
> opinion. Hopefully other news sources won't jump on
> the bandwagon. The last thing we need is another
> Western Upstate NY incident.
>
> Songchick - who loves to tell interested people about
> letterboxing, but won't give interviews. ;)
>
>
> =====
> Carpe Diem
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now.
> http://promotions.yahoo.com/goldrush
>
> Yahoo! Groups SponsorADVERTISEMENT
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> To visit your group on the web, go to:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/letterbox-usa/
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> letterbox-usa-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
Service.
>
>
>
>
> Blue Heron...
>
> ---------------------------------
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

While I wholeheartedly agree with the "avoid publicity" approach in
theory, I don't really think it is practical in practice. As the
poster below states, and as were our feelings with the Time Magazine
article -- if a reporter wants a story bad enough, it doesn't take
too much research to find a 'boxer who will talk. After all, anyone
who places a letterbox is accessible via the "Contact the Placer"
option on their letterbox clues.

This leaves local reporters free to contact anyy and all [planting]
letterboxers in their area, rather than go through the "media
inquiries" link specifically set up on the LbNA website in hopes of
better controlling the press. There are a lot of people who place
boxes on the LbNA web site who do not read the Yahoo! list and who
would not think twice about talking to the press.

I think we have to accept that publicity is going to be an ongoing
issue and look for the best ways to deal with it, rather than try to
avoid it or even influence how it happens.

When it comes down to it -- we can't control other people or
situations that we are not directly responsible for -- we can only
control our reactions to these situations.

SpringChick


--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "jelybean_lb"
wrote:
> Not cooperating with journalists is not going to work. I am
married
> to a journalist, so I know how persistant they can be. Everyone
> refusing to talk is just going to intrigue them more, they'll do
the
> story with or without our help, they'll go off and do their own
> research and may end up reporting misinformation.
>
> I for one learned about lbing from an article in an airline
magazine
> a few years back. There were not many letterboxers in the area I
> lived in at that time, so I really had no opportunity to learn by
> word of mouth. I'm thankful for that article. It has provided me
> and my family countless hours of enjoyment.
>
> I believe the right approach is for us to control what gets
reported
> by formulating our own response to press inquiries now. In other
> words, have a sort of standard statement or a set of information
we
> share with the press, or maybe just some responses to frequently
> asked questions.
>
> JeLyBean

What gets me about this particular article is that it was obviously
mimicking the Time article. Time has photo's, so this article has
photo's. Time had permission but the AZ article didn't. Secrecy?
Sure, lets publish the clues AND show pictures of the find! The Time
author went out on a hunt so this author goes out on a hunt.

The AZ author certainly knows how to use the internet and is well
aware of letterboxing websites, can read and, one hopes, is acquainted
with the concept of research. So rather than taking ten minutes to
read about letterboxing principles Rhonda Bodfield Bloom plows through
her article oblivious (or worse, ignoring) letterboxing etiquette and
rules, including those important to the very survival of the game,
like these taken from the FAQ section of letterboxing.org:

- "Respect the land when hunting boxes and when hiding them."
So she proclaims letterboxes are "dug up". Great, now folks will be
heading out packing shovels?

- "Do not post clue solutions on the Internet or discuss how to solve
clues in public fora."
So she prints clues & trail names in her article and includes
photographs of clues and the find?


In her article she says:
"Our initial plan was to find some letterboxing enthusiasts so they
could do the dirty work of actually finding a box for us, but, alas,
they're an elusive bunch."

Well, we now know that that isn't exactly true.



I suspect that even if the letterboxing angels had blessed this woman,
she wouldn't have bothered to do any better. With people like this
you can't get out of them any more than they are willing to give.

catbead

Mark, if I may chime in on your decision not to write the "for
Dummies" book, I think there is a big difference between doing
press and writing a book.

The Press gives mass exposure of letterboxing to the general
public. Including those who are not interested in the game,
those who would seek to limit our access, and those who would
prey on the boxes. It's our dirty laundry out for everyone to see.

An instruction book, on the other hand is something someone
would purchase if they have an interest in the topic and are
willing to lay down hard-earned cash to pursue. $20 is a pretty
good entrance fee. I think it would certainly help keep out the
"Joy Riders."

In addition, if this publisher wants to put out a book, they will do it
with or without us. Frankly, I would prefer to see us represented
by a thoughtful veteran, such as yourself, than someone else
who may get the mechanics of letterboxing but miss the - how
should I say it? - Zen of the game.

My personal opinion is that you should reconsider or direct them
to someone who you feel, "gets it."

My 2

Natty Bumppo





--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "Mark Pepe"
wrote:
> Hi boxers:
>
> I'd like to chime in on the issue of cooperating with the press! I
feel
> that Newsupd8 has it correct.
>
> We must be very careful in how and with whom we discuss
this pastime -
> being evermindful of the Dartmoorian roots and how this hobby
began in
> this country. While the proverbial cat is out of the bag - let's limit
> it's roar!
>
> That being said - I'd like to tell you about a recent experience.
Some
> of you may know that I have a website on letterboxing. One
week I saw,
> through my webcounter software tracking page, a repeated
visitor with a
> domain name of Wiley Publishing, who was all over our
website. To make a
> long story short, an acquisitions editor contacted me from
Wiley, asking
> me to write a book on letterboxing. For those of you unfamiliar
with
> Wiley, they publish the "For Dummies" series of how-to books.
They
> wanted me to write a Letterboxing for Dummies! Yuccck~
>
> At first I was quite taken with the idea - you know, name in
lights,
> Larry King [I say this tongue-in-cheek] but minor fame was a
temptation
> - for a minute or two. I then had a chance to discuss this idea
with Sue
> and 3 very good letterboxing friends - all names you would
recognize -
> and my gut decision proved to be their ideas - stay away -
letterboxing
> does not need another book or any more publicity.
>
> As one of these letterboxing sages wrote me when I asked
about them
> about the Dummies book:
>
> ". . . it's stupid to tell people about your favorite fishing hole,
and
> then bitch when everyone goes there, catches the fish, and
leaves litter
> and trampled vegetation."
>
> I feel that about sums it up~
>
> Have fun and just get out there & box!!!
>
> Mark Pepe
> http://markandsuepepe.blogspot.com/

My thoughts are that if you don't do it, it will be done by someone else. Maybe someone who really doesn't care about the sport. Then what kind of book would be out there for the "dummies" to read?
Dragon Lady TCB



As one of these letterboxing sages wrote me when I asked about them
about the Dummies book:

". . . it's stupid to tell people about your favorite fishing hole, and
then bitch when everyone goes there, catches the fish, and leaves litter
and trampled vegetation."



---------------------------------
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Not knowing much regarding the hobby, I think that a 'Dummies" book would be
( to those that are really interested in the hobby ) a well used source of
information and know-how. Course, that's just MHO..

-----Original Message-----
From: nattybumppolbna [mailto:nattybumppolbna@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2004 1:46 PM
To: letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [LbNA] STOP CO-OPERATING! was Re: Newspaper article in AZ


Mark, if I may chime in on your decision not to write the "for
Dummies" book, I think there is a big difference between doing
press and writing a book.

The Press gives mass exposure of letterboxing to the general
public. Including those who are not interested in the game,
those who would seek to limit our access, and those who would
prey on the boxes. It's our dirty laundry out for everyone to see.

An instruction book, on the other hand is something someone
would purchase if they have an interest in the topic and are
willing to lay down hard-earned cash to pursue. $20 is a pretty
good entrance fee. I think it would certainly help keep out the
"Joy Riders."

In addition, if this publisher wants to put out a book, they will do it
with or without us. Frankly, I would prefer to see us represented
by a thoughtful veteran, such as yourself, than someone else
who may get the mechanics of letterboxing but miss the - how
should I say it? - Zen of the game.

My personal opinion is that you should reconsider or direct them
to someone who you feel, "gets it."

My 2

Natty Bumppo





--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "Mark Pepe"
wrote:
> Hi boxers:
>
> I'd like to chime in on the issue of cooperating with the press! I
feel
> that Newsupd8 has it correct.
>
> We must be very careful in how and with whom we discuss
this pastime -
> being evermindful of the Dartmoorian roots and how this hobby
began in
> this country. While the proverbial cat is out of the bag - let's limit
> it's roar!
>
> That being said - I'd like to tell you about a recent experience.
Some
> of you may know that I have a website on letterboxing. One
week I saw,
> through my webcounter software tracking page, a repeated
visitor with a
> domain name of Wiley Publishing, who was all over our
website. To make a
> long story short, an acquisitions editor contacted me from
Wiley, asking
> me to write a book on letterboxing. For those of you unfamiliar
with
> Wiley, they publish the "For Dummies" series of how-to books.
They
> wanted me to write a Letterboxing for Dummies! Yuccck~
>
> At first I was quite taken with the idea - you know, name in
lights,
> Larry King [I say this tongue-in-cheek] but minor fame was a
temptation
> - for a minute or two. I then had a chance to discuss this idea
with Sue
> and 3 very good letterboxing friends - all names you would
recognize -
> and my gut decision proved to be their ideas - stay away -
letterboxing
> does not need another book or any more publicity.
>
> As one of these letterboxing sages wrote me when I asked
about them
> about the Dummies book:
>
> ". . . it's stupid to tell people about your favorite fishing hole,
and
> then bitch when everyone goes there, catches the fish, and
leaves litter
> and trampled vegetation."
>
> I feel that about sums it up~
>
> Have fun and just get out there & box!!!
>
> Mark Pepe
> http://markandsuepepe.blogspot.com/





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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Heck, let me write a Dummies book! I could use the extra
income! ;o) Or at least an income of any sort, for that matter. =)

-- Ryan