Wednesday, January 02, 2013
More Uses for Newspapers
Dear Mike,
I showed your posting on the many uses of Greek newspaper to an old college friend, of an Irish family that has been (as she says) Catholic since the seventh century. She tells me that her father, William Gilmartin, used to subscribe to the Jewish Community Bulletin, a San Francisco weekly newspaper. It came in the mail, and the Jewish postman, Mr. Stern, naturally noticed. After a few years, he happened to see Mr. Gilmartin while delivering that week's copy and praised him for his wonderfully ecumenical spirit. Her father hadn't the heart to tell him that the Jewish Community Bulletin was exactly the size of his parrot's cage, and was bought expressly for the purpose of lining the bottom. The publication schedule was just right for a weekly change of paper. The newspaper went straight from the mailbox to the floor of the cage. He didn't even need to unfold it. Fortunately, neither he nor the parrot were still alive when the Bulletin became an e-paper a few years ago.
As ever,
Ian Jackson
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I showed your posting on the many uses of Greek newspaper to an old college friend, of an Irish family that has been (as she says) Catholic since the seventh century. She tells me that her father, William Gilmartin, used to subscribe to the Jewish Community Bulletin, a San Francisco weekly newspaper. It came in the mail, and the Jewish postman, Mr. Stern, naturally noticed. After a few years, he happened to see Mr. Gilmartin while delivering that week's copy and praised him for his wonderfully ecumenical spirit. Her father hadn't the heart to tell him that the Jewish Community Bulletin was exactly the size of his parrot's cage, and was bought expressly for the purpose of lining the bottom. The publication schedule was just right for a weekly change of paper. The newspaper went straight from the mailbox to the floor of the cage. He didn't even need to unfold it. Fortunately, neither he nor the parrot were still alive when the Bulletin became an e-paper a few years ago.
As ever,
Ian Jackson
