Dear Editor

Dear Editor

A Novel

by Jay MacLeod

Copyright 2011 Jay MacLeod

Smashwords Edition

Dear Editor

Dear Editor is a novel by Jay MacLeod.

It was written and published in 2011.

Jay MacLeod is the sole author of this work. It is copyright Jay MacLeod. All rights are reserved.

This particular edition was published at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author

Jay MacLeod can be reached by email:

jay.m.writing@gmail.com

He would enjoy hearing feedback from you about this novel.

Jay also has a blog which he updates fairly often regarding his writing and publishing activities. It is called Rejects Harbour

Jay would like to thank you for reading Dear Editor. He would also like to thank those who helped, directly or indirectly, while he was writing it. This includes family, friends and co-workers.

Table of Contents

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

Postscript

Sept 2

Dear Editor,

Today was a rough day.

They took my son David away to the Saint John Correctional Centre.

Finally this chapter in our lives ends and a new one begins.

There are many points about my son’s case which have been misrepresented in your paper, and elsewhere in the media. Many people in our community have made comments about this case without being fully informed.

I would respectfully say that Judge Clements came to the correct decision in this case, based on the evidence and on the mitigating circumstances.

Some have said that an eighteen month sentence is too lenient. I would ask those people to look at other similar cases in our province and elsewhere in Canada. Judges are required to sentence on the basis of similar cases.

Given the fact that my son had no prior criminal record, that at he made no attempt to leave the scene of the accident, and that he was fully cooperative with police at the time and subsequently, this sentence is entirely appropriate.

For Kimberly Mersereau’s family there can be no consolation. Theirs is a loss too terrible for words. I would like them to know that David could not have wilfully harmed their daughter. He made a terrible mistake getting behind the wheel of the car that night last December. He will pay for that the rest of his life, even after the end of his custodial sentence.

Now there is finally closure. Hopefully healing can begin. We would all do well to think on the future, and not simply dwell on events of the past.

Russell M. Waters

Upper Bainville, NB

Sept 7

Dear Editor,

I would first like to thank you for running my letter from Thursday regarding my son David.

There are some misconceptions out there about my son. I would like to address some of these.

First: some people say that David is an alcoholic or a problem drinker.

This is simply not the case.

I do not drink myself. Neither David nor my other son Calvin got into trouble with alcohol when they were younger. Both my sons received full scholarships to go to university. Neither of them ever stayed out late or gave me cause for concern.

Now I can’t say exactly what David did while studying in Fredericton. His marks in his first two years of study were high. In the summers David stayed me with here in Bainville, even after his mother left. He worked at a call centre in Saint John, and stayed in most evenings.

Second: David was distracted while he was driving the car.

There is nothing in the court record to support this. David never owned a cellular phone or other mobile device. He may have been playing the radio loudly. He is a twenty-one year old man. How would that make him different from anyone else that age?

I would suggest that weather and poor road construction bear the brunt of the blame for what took place that evening in Taymoore’s Way.

Why wasn’t Kimberly wearing a seatbelt? She was a young woman exercising her prerogative. She chose to break the law. There is no official word on how many drinks she had, although David has said she had three or less than three.

Many people in our community continue to make comments about David or his case, both online and in public.

It is clear that my son made a terrible mistake when he got behind the wheel of that car.

But what purpose is there in attacking a man who has been sent to jail? This will do nothing to bring Kimberly Mersereau back to life. All this kind of commenting does is make things worse for everybody concerned. It slows down the healing.

Judge Clements handed down a sentence of eighteen months. We are not appealing this sentence.

Moreover I have donated a significant amount of money to the local chapter of an organization dedicated to the prevention of drunk driving. This is a very worthy organization doing important work in our community. Education and compassion always win the day.

I would request that everyone allow the justice system to do its work. We should all learn what we can from this terrible tragedy and then do our best to move on.

Russell M. Waters

Upper Bainville, NB

Sept 8

Dear Editor,

I would like to take issue with the new smoking policy in our province’s jails which is taking effect at the beginning of the New Year.

According to this policy, inmates, visitors, and prison staff are all prohibited from smoking anywhere on prison property.

This strikes me as being more than a little inhumane. We have taken everything else from these men. I think they should be allowed to smoke cigarettes in designated areas within the prison. This smacks of punitive rather than rehabilitative action. This policy stands to seriously undermine security within the SJCC, and endangers public safety in general.

My son David doesn’t smoke, but if he did I would be outraged by this policy.

I realize that few will sympathize with the plight of offenders in our prison system. Until my son was sent to jail, I felt the same way.

Let us not get overzealous in our desire for retribution. These men are cut off from family, friends, and their freedom. Surely there is no need to punish them further.

Russell M. Waters

Upper Bainville, NB

Sept 10

Dear Editor,

I would like to announce that I have been awarded a long-term supply teaching position at Bay Meadows High School in Bay Meadows. This is to cover Mrs. Emma Barlow’s English 10, 11 and 12 classes while she is away on maternity leave. I will also be taking on a section of Media Studies 120.

I will be taking over beginning this Monday, September 13 and until the end of the classes next summer. It has been a long time since I’ve had an entire school year with the same group of students.

It is a special privilege to be working at BMHS. Speaking as someone who has worked as a supply teacher throughout our region for many years, I can safely say Bay Meadows is one of the best secondary schools in the entire Greater Saint John area, both in terms of its academics and its sense of community spirit.

I would like to thank Principal Allan Marsh for giving me this opportunity. I look forward to working with all the staff and students at BMHS in the coming months. I would also like to congratulate Emma and her husband Randall on the impending birth of their child; a daughter, I have heard.

Russell M. Waters

Upper Bainville, NB

Sept 11

Dear Editor,

I would like to tell your readership about a very impressive young man who is running as an independent candidate in the provincial election.

Jamie Cartwright is a very good young man. I have known Jamie as a friend of my older son Calvin but had not seen him for quite some time. Jamie came to my door just this morning to discuss his campaign, and what he plans to do if elected as the MLA for South Saint John. As yet, he is the only candidate who has made it to this end of Highway 2.

I feel that Jamie’s story is very inspiring. As a younger man Mr. Cartwright went out west to work in the oil fields of Alberta, specifically in Fort McMurray. After more than three years of laying pipes and cables for the oil conglomerates, Mr. Cartwright decided to return home to South Saint John.

Mr. Cartwright is possessed of excellent work habits which would serve our riding well. He lived very frugally while in Alberta. He went out in the evenings very infrequently. In so doing he avoided the nightclubs which exist primarily to separate oil patch workers from their pay cheques. He put his money away and lived on the very minimum possible.

Now Mr. Cartwright is back in our community. Ever frugal, he is residing in the basement of his parents home for a nominal rent in order to ensure he is able to hold onto his Alberta earnings for as long as possible. He currently is working as a freelance web designer. His roster of clients is growing and includes a local law firm, a bowling alley, and several local musical groups.

Mr. Cartwright has also started a moving business which employs several other young men. As of yesterday, Cart-Right Movers has helped more than twenty-five Saint John families relocate to new homes both in Saint John and elsewhere within Southern New Brunswick.

When he is not busy creating web pages or helping families move, Mr. Cartwright is an active volunteer. He hosts a bimonthly financial affairs program on the University of Saint John campus radio station. He has also set up a program to collect sports equipment for disadvantaged youth in our community.

Although he is not yet thirty years old, Mr. Cartwright is thinking in the long-term. He is recently engaged to be married, and the happy couple is expecting their first child in December.

His is the kind of story we want to share and be a part of. We should all aspire to be like Mr. Cartwright. He sets an excellent example for the young people of our province; proof that with a little bit of hard work and a positive attitude anyone can be successful. I am happy to campaign on his behalf in this election.

Russell M. Waters

Upper Bainville, NB

Sept 15

Dear Editor,

I would like to congratulate Ms. Emma Barlowe and her husband Randall Barlowe on the birth of their daughter Wilma Susan Barlowe.

As you know I have been Ms. Barlowe’s replacement at BHS. I heard about the happy event from one of my colleagues in the staff room.

I tried to visit at the hospital to offer my congratulations in person, but the young family had already checked out. They must have been very eager to get home.

As I understand it, Wilma is the couple’s first child.

I remember very well the day we brought David home from the Saint John Regional hospital. It was a lovely spring day. The weather could have been terrible, but it would have been perfect anyway. We listened to classic rock music all the way home. My wife was exhausted, but she was very good about driving all the same. We were terrified but thrilled at the same time.

I made some inquiries regarding where the Barlowes live and was directed to the new Bainville Landings development, just past Rothesay Corner Plaza. This was the first time I’d ever visited this particular subdivision, even though the first houses were built there more than a year ago. There are some very lovely homes in this development. Each piece of property sits on a cleared half-acre plot. Most of the homes are two storeys and have attached garages. Driving through the development, I had to slow down more than once as there were many children and teens running around playing road hockey or other games. Several of the teens I recognized from my stints of teaching at Loyalist Middle School and Southwest Saint John High.

This is exactly the sort of place I would choose to live if I were a young teacher again and just starting out with a family.

Even with directions it took awhile to find the Barlowe residence. All the houses looked similar.

It seems they were out visiting friends or relatives. The driveway was empty, and no one came to the front door when I rang the bell. I sat in my car across from the house for twenty minutes or so, without thinking or doing very much, waiting to see if Emma or Randall would arrive. I had a fruit basket, and debated coming back with it later. I might’ve stayed longer- it was a lovely evening after all. I went around the back of the house and left the basket on the porch. Then I drove home. I suppose I will send them a card in the mail, as I now know their home address.

Might I say, dear Editor, that my place seemed particularly empty when I returned from trying to visit the Barlowes. Every creak in the house seemed louder than normal. The birds outside seemed very close to the windows. I went from room to room, turning on every light in the house: all the lamps, and all the overhead lights. Then I turned on the radio. Then I sat in the living room waiting to feel tired, but this took a very long time.

I realize that this sounds very odd. There are no books in the house that interest me, and the only thing I ever watch on TV is the news.

At around midnight I turned the lights off and sat down at the kitchen table to write this letter. I will send it first thing in the morning.

I hope this evening finds you well.

Russell M. Waters

Upper Bainville, NB

Sept 17

Dear Editor,

I would like to make your readership aware of a new group at BMHS. Positive Social Force (PSF) is looking for members. The goal of PSF is to bring positive change to our community. We will do this in a number of ways. Meetings will happen as often as needed. Our first meeting will be this Thursday at lunch hour in room 114, next to the computer lab. We will attempt to