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I’d also like to address the issue of hate mail. I’ve been writing a newspaper opinion column for many years, and I’ve seen some seriously irate letters to the editor. Then again, when you write for the opinion pages, that sort of thing–as an editor once told me–”comes with the territory.” I work for other departments at the newspaper, so what surprises me is when someone leaves a negative–or downright mean–comment on the paper’s Web site in response to one of my news, lifestyle or entertainment articles. Part of the problem is that the anonymity of the Internet tends to make people very brave.

As Patricia said, it’s always best to focus on the positive and, I do have some regular readers who are fans of my work. They’re one of the reasons I keep at this crazy business. That, and I just couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else!