Posted on 02/25/2005 7:10:10 AM PST by dalereed
Knowing when it's time to quit
UNION-TRIBUNE February 25, 2005
"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." – Henry David Thoreau
Some of my friends wonder aloud if I am suffering some sort of "midlife crisis." They cannot fathom, for the life of them, why I would retire, in my mid-40s, from my writing job at The San Diego Union-Tribune; why I would forfeit my nationally syndicated column.
Well, after nearly 15 years of daily deadlines, writing three to four editorials a week, in addition to a column, this seems as good a time as any to walk away from the grind.
As the latter-day philosopher Clint Eastwood famously stated: "A man's got to know his limitations."
I know there will be speculation in some quarters as to the "real" reason for my departure from daily journalism. Some will wonder whether I am the victim of some liberal coup at the Union-Tribune; whether I was "pushed out the door."
Let me assure everyone concerned that I am leaving of my own volition. I am looking forward to the next chapter in my life and career. And so is my lovely wife, Yolanda, who is taking early retirement.
I owe a debt of gratitude to my loyal readers, in San Diego and around the country, for supporting my writings over the years. And to the folks at FreeRepublic.com, Lucianne.com and RealClearPolitics.com – my three favorite Web sites – for occasionally posting my columns and giving my writings an even wider audience.
Your overwhelming feedback, measured in e-mails and voice mails, reassured me that my conservative thinking on the range of subjects was not nearly as far out as my preponderantly liberal journalistic peers often suggested.
Indeed, I considered it my mission to counterbalance the liberal orthodoxy that prevails on most of the nation's opinion pages. I viewed myself as a voice of the majority of Americans who are right of center on the political spectrum.
I'm referring to the folks who live in so-called red states – or in red counties, like San Diego, in otherwise blue states, like California – whose conservative values are viewed contemptuously by the liberal elite who dominate academia and Hollywood and the putative mainstream media.
I'm talking about the 60 million God-fearing, patriotic Americans who just returned George W. Bush to the White House.
Now some of my critics – yes, I've had a few – complained that I was too hard on liberals and Democrats; that I was always giving them hell.
That reminds me of the words of the late president Harry S Truman, one of my favorite Democrats. He didn't give his foes hell, he said. He just spoke the truth, and they thought it was hell.
And that's what I have done for much of the past 15 years. I have written the truth as it revealed itself. And many, if not most, of my liberal and Democrat readers thought it was hell.
Yet, while I have been a bare-knuckled opinion writer, while I have pulled none of my punches over the years, I have never borne malice toward anyone simply because we differed politically.
I might have disagreed, strenuously so, with someone's position on a given issue, or on many issues. But I never allowed that to cross the line into hate on my part.
I have tried to follow the example of Booker T. Washington, who was a black conservative long before being black and conservative was cool. "I will permit no man," he said, "to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him."
Now I know that many of my conservative readers will be disappointed that I am getting out of the opinion-writing game. But I am not so full of myself as to believe that I am leaving behind a void that somehow can't be filled.
Indeed, back in my White House days, I had an actress friend who was appearing in a production of "Twelfth Night" at Washington's Folger Shakespeare Theater.
One day, the lead actress in the play, Hollywood A-lister Kelly McGillis (whose screen credits included at the time "Top Gun," "Witness" and "The Accused"), fell ill.
I wondered whether the evening's performance would go on. To which my actress friend replied: "One monkey don't stop no show."
Well, I'm just a simian who writes conservative opinions. And there are plenty of other simians who share my political predilection who can ably take my place.
And if, for some reason, the 200 or so newspapers that have carried my column – including San Diego's leading daily – do not see fit to run another conservative column in place of mine, conservative readers need not despair.
Because they can always turn to the blogosphere. It is the brave new marketplace of ideas, rivaling the influence of newspaper editorial pages.
Who knows? I may come out of retirement in six months or a year or three years and start my own blog, proffering opinions on issues of the day. It would be just like old times.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Perkins can be reached via e-mail at JosephPerkinsInc@aol.com.
Hopefully, he will write some opeds for fun and post them on Free Republic.
agreed
Cool that he did that.
Here's to wishing him well on his future plans.
And yes, it would be cool if he wrote a few more articles for the sites he mentioned.....
But he has earned his rest.
He's been a lurker, if not a registered poster for many years.
It was probably 4 or 5 years ago that he e-mailed me thanking me for posting his editorials.
He will be missed in the UT, since Helen Copley as editor of the paper retired he has been one of the sole voices of reason in the paper.
Don't stay out of the game though - you are welcome to comment here or on my blog. Just drop me a note.
Black conservative ping
If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)
Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.
bttt
BTTT
Dale thanks for posting this.
We can hope that after a few weeks, Mr Perkins becomes a freeper and does opeds for Free Republic for fun and the truth about liberals.
Great Graphic Arts.
Yes, we need a conservative like Mr Perkins with his verbal skills and talents to help us battle the left's Weapon of Mass Disinformation, WMD, aka the MSM. (see my tagline)
FYI and ping lists.
Lets tell Mr Perkins thanks for what he has done and let him know that we would proud if he became an oped Freeper.
Please do so Mr. Perkins. But first, do enjoy some of your retirement....
I always enjoyed Mr. Perkins' columns. He will be missed.
Thanks for posting this, Dale. I've read Mr. Perkins for many years in the UT and have always admired and enjoyed his writing. Despite his protestations to the contrary, he will indeed be missed, at least by this reader.
Thanks for the post.
It looks like he's just coming outside for some fresh air and sunshine. Welcome to the Free world.
Good luck to him. Mid-40s is very early to retire. Hopefully he has another productive career in mind that he can put himself into.
If Mr. Perkins suffers writer-withdrawal pains, I trust he knows he would be so very appreciated on FR.
<< "I will permit no man," he said, "to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him." >>
Me too!
[Way to go, Booker T!]
When Jim Robinson came for his special dinner with the San Diego Chapter, Joseph and his wife Yolanda, stopped by the restaurant just for the opportunity to meet and greet Jim.
I'm sorry to see Joseph retire - but I hope he does start that blog because his perceptions are so right on.
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