To Foster M. Russell:
February 11, 1984.
Dear Foster:
My wife, Betty and I were very pleased to receive your note of February 10, 1984, and to learn of your appointment as a member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. This is a great honor indeed, and you richly deserve the appointment. We wish to offer you our sincere congratulations. Your powerful editorials of the past, and your determined stand to speak up for human rights, has, I feel sure, earned for you this appointment.
Recently I have acquired a reel of microfilm for the Cobourg Star newspaper for the years 1868 and 1869. I had not seen these volumes before. Last month I reviewed these issues and I found a story about the Honorable James Cockburn, written in 1869 by an editor in New Brunswick. In my story of 1966-67, I emphasized the fact that Cockburn was outstanding as Speaker and in fact his greatest contribution was 1n this capacity. This article, that I have only seen last month, backs up my story. Enclosed is a copy for you to keep.
At the time of your visit here a short while ago, a brief remark about the present day Cobourg Daily Star was noticed by yours truly. Little was said, but for quite some time I have felt the said newspaper could do a lot better in local news. In my opinion too much space is devoted to sporting items and a lot of local happenings go unpublished. In sports, the game is the thing- and games have a purpose in themselves in developing the physical well-being and, properly conducted, also help 1n character building. But having a ¼ of a page picture of some player chasing a hockey puck, or making a big deal out of some one scoring, who cares. We all played games and had our successes at times, but that is part of the game, the record... is unimportant. With the price of newspapers to-day, there could be a much better balance in what is given to the public. There are church activities that are never reported, and many other news items about the town and area that should make for interesting reading. A while back, I submitted some historical stories for publication. One or two were published but others never got into print. I recall, when you were editor, you graciously published this kind of submissions. In this bi-centennial year, the newspaper should be out there leading in recognizing the year. To date very little has been published on this subject. I guess some of the younger generation have a much different outlook on such matters. In reading old newspaper files, there was a much better balance, a better coverage, and a more interesting paper. This is the way I see it.
With this off my chest, I will close this letter. We do thank you for sending the material along with your note. Keep up the good work!
Yours truly,
Percy L. Climo
