by Walter Brasch
I received a letter from a friend this past week.
It was a letter he should never have had to write, yet did so out of desperation.
He is 80 years old, living off occasional writings and Social Security.
He has Medicare, but no dental insurance, and that's the problem. He needs dental work. A lot of dental work. $10,000 worth of dental work.
Many dental insurance plans for individuals are so expensive, and give relatively few benefits, that many dentists suggest the premiums just aren't worth it.
Without the dental work, my friend, like many people in the country, will suffer significant additional problems. Infection is one. Poor nutrition is another. There are even links to diabetes and thickening arteries.
So, my friend sent a letter to his friends asking for help. Not a lot of help. Maybe $100 from each of us.
Paul Krassner, my friend and colleague, is a giant in the world of social activism and journalism, praised by Groucho Marx and George Carlin, despised by the Nixonian establishment. He was a proud member of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters; with Abbie and Anita Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Nancy Kurshan, he was a co-founder of the Youth International Party, better known as the Yippies. For almost five decades, he has been one of the nation's most influential editors, satirists, and columnists, his writings appearing in major newspapers and magazines.
Recently, two of those magazines that ran his column decided they could no longer run it. One editor said the column was spiked because the magazine was "shifting to a more business/retail-oriented editorial content." The editor of the other magazine, which had published his column for decades, said he had "great admiration for you and your writing," but decided another writer would now take over that column. That's just the way it is in journalism.
And so my friend has found his income not just slipping but in free-fall.
If he--the great writer, reporter, and editor--was the only one with this kind of problem, it still might be a story. But he isn't the only one. And that's why this story is so important.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
2
1
