Home > Letters to CR

Heidi MacDonald on Friends of Lulu Empowerment Fund
posted April 11, 2006
 

"This would be a step up in terms of seriousness for both the group and the problem, given the longstanding accusation that Friends of Lulu's primary function is to defray convention costs for Friends of Lulu members..."

Uh what accusation is that? When I was on the board they paid for ONE person to go to San Diego, the biggest convention of the year, so that someone could be dedicated to running the FoL booth instead of their own.

I wish this was the case because I would like to have the money back I spent on candy, travel, office supplies and other things that came out of MY OWN POCKET and other people's pockets during the seven years or so I served FoLin various forms.

Whoever is making these "longstanding accusations" is obviously not aware of the FoL anthologies, or the FoL Awards, or the other forms out outreach that
go on EVERY YEAR. Funny. And Sad.

I think it's sad that you can't comment on a wrong done against a woman without making your own baseless accusations.

******

Tom Spurgeon Responds: Heidi, once again your failure to apply basic reading comprehension skills is getting the best of you. You do this a lot with me; I'm almost beginning to think it's willful.

First, I'm clearly not writing about a wrong done a woman. I'm writing about the establishment of an empowerment fund. Thus, you know, the headline.

Second, I'm clearly not making an accusation. I'm pointing out something's that been said, to me, several times about FOL over the years. Now that you've pointed out that this has happened at least once -- which is one more instance than I knew about! -- I don't think it's very hard to see where people might latch onto this and grumble about it. I hate to break it to you, but I don't know a single awards program, fundraiser or charitable organization related to comics that hasn't had nasty accusatons made against it by grumbling pros at some point in its history.

Third, and related, I'm not endorsing the accusation. I'm pointing out that it exists. Which is specifically pertinent to the point I'm making.

That point? That the admirable, concrete, and potentially kick-ass step of starting an empowerment fund raises the FOL's mission out of an arena where people are likely to say nasty things about it or, for that matter, simply make fun of it. I admire this move. This is great. When I get full details as to how it will be run, I would like to contribute.

In general, I don't think I need a lesson about how to report on rumors from you, Heidi.

And I think it's doubly sad that you fall back on that old, tired, and immensely professionally disrespectful saw of implying that any of this reflects some problem I have with women.