About the Obituaries
To the editor:
I love reading the obituaries in the Provincetown Independent. Does that make me a voyeur? Is it wrong that I come away from reading the obituaries smiling?
I admit that I enjoy learning about the circumstances that brought these folks to live in this beautiful, precious part of our world. I love reading about the lives of amazing, wonderful, kind, generous people who might be my neighbors. I might have said hello to one of them at the hardware store or the gas station or the market or just walking on the beach.
Although some of the beautifully written obituaries are signed, who writes the others? I am still smiling as I turn to the other sections of the Independent. Thanks for all of it!
Mary Moniz
Eastham
We encourage the submission of detailed obituaries by family members and friends. All the obituaries that appear in the Independent have been edited and, in some cases, substantially revised with further research by staff writer Tom Recchio and the editors. When significant additional reporting has taken place, we include the byline of the writer. When it is more of a group effort, the editing is light, or the principal writer asks not to be named, there is no byline.
We consider obituaries to be news stories of lasting importance to the community and therefore believe it is wrong to charge for them, as many other newspapers now do. We also believe there is nothing wrong with smiling after reading them. —Editor
Undocumented Drivers
To the editor:
In his Oct. 15 letter to the Boston Globe opposing the granting of driver’s licenses to undocumented residents, state Rep. Steven Xiarhos of Barnstable argued that the Registry of Motor Vehicles “does not have the ability to verify the identity of people who are not in this country legally.”
If that were true, why have the 16 states that have adopted a similar driver’s license law not experienced such an issue? Why have so many Massachusetts law enforcement officers at various levels publicly endorsed the driver’s license law, which some of them even helped to draft?
If Massachusetts drivers want assurance that only licensed drivers will be on the state’s roads, they should vote Yes on Question 4.
L. Michael Hager
Eastham
The writer is a member of the Cape Cod Coalition for Safe Communities
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Letters to the Editor
Send letters of up to 300 words to [email protected]. Letters must be signed with the writer’s name, home address, and a phone number where we can reach you for verification and editing. The deadline is Monday at noon for each week’s edition.
