David,
I like your idea a lot. Your offer to mediate is generous and I appreciate the time you are personally willing to expend in an effort to bring this to a satisfying conclusion without overstepping the bounds of civility that have been crossed in the past. Clearly this list is full of intellegent and wise persons whose only goal is to learn and appreciate more about vintage lighweights. I'm all for Erics approach.
I've been looking for the "Queen of Websearches" email from a few days ago and I can't find anything (man, I can't even find something in my own email box!). Could this person please contact me off list; I have a question/possible search that is pertinent to this subject.
OK, I guess lurking isn't going to stick. Obviously I'm going to hang around. I really love you people. Do y'all get that same warm fuzzy feeling? (Just gave my monitor a big hug, did you feel it?)
Brian Baylis
La Mesa, CA. Where love springs eternal.
>
> I like Eric's "documentary" idea, and volunteer as a collator/editor.
> David Feldman
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Eric Elman" <tr4play@home.com>
> To: <rocklube@adnc.com>; <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2001 5:18 AM
> Subject: [CR]Suggestion; was Hello/Goodbye
>
> > My observations and SUGGESTION for whatever you deem them to be worth:
> >
> > Summary: Dale is quite free with us in our difference of opinions when
> > stated civily; the Confente thread is exceptional and should be handle
> > accordingly....
> >
> > The CR list, Dales forum, is usually very civil in tone & demeanor of
> those
> > who contribute to the list.
> >
> > Dale has, in my observations, typically allowed individuals to state,
> > discuss, explain and try to justify their opinions without censurship or
> > threat of being unsubscribed. When an individual has stated an opinion as
> > fact, Dale has also permitted plenty of open discussion by those who
> > disagreed with said "fact" - only when the tone becomes uncivil have I
> > noticed any implication of censurship or request by Dale to tone it down
> or
> > risk being expelled.
> >
> > The Confente topic was a gross exception to the normal CR content in that
> it
> > was, comparatively speaking, without end along with an obvious tone that
> was
> > beyond simple and civil defference of opinion. My observation was that
> that
> > emotion was getting the better of some contributors which was seriously
> > detracting from the credibility of what was being presented. Once the
> > percieved credibility of the contributions began to deteriorate, the
> thread
> > unwound.
> >
> > So how do we move on from here? Dale is apparently listening to all we
> have
> > to say and I hope/expect will give serious thoughts to our comments and
> then
> > provide direction to the list. It will eventually require his input if
> the
> > list is to move in a direction that he wants - it is his list, we are in
> his
> > family room.
> >
> > Many agree that the Confente story is historically important. History is
> > filled with all sorts of differing opinions and recollections of what had
> in
> > fact happened. Why not think of this as a documentary with the "history
> of
> > Mario Confente" being the quest. Why not handle this extraordinary thread
> > by asking Jim, Brian, and anyone else with firsthand knowledge to submit
> > (offline to someone like Dale?) their most detailed account of the full
> > history, from beginning to end. Then have someone (Dale?) pull these
> > accounts together, not picking and choosing what to include, but simply
> > placing all submissions in chronological order of events, by paragraph,
> with
> > the author identified at the end of said paragraph. This could then be
> > submitted back to the contributors for further clarification and response,
> > all of which could be added into the document to help make it flow better
> > and to jog memories of accounts missed in their earlier contributions.
> >
> > It seemed clear to me from the previous Confente posts that there will
> never
> > be a concensus on all aspects of events. That's ok isn't it? Let's get
> the
> > story down on paper - agreements & disagreements both. Mario and those of
> > us interested in his life will get the benefit of those who were around
> him,
> > we'll get to hear first hand where there is a difference of opinion and we
> > can choose to judge or simply accept the differences.
> >
> > Sure, this would be a large undertaking.
> >
> > This is not your typical CR list question about what size sproket a Campy
> NR
> > rear will handle and I respectfully suggest that it requires a different
> > method of contributing and documenting than a list such as ours can
> > accomodate.
> >
> > Eric "I care" Elman