INDIANA PARLEY

But what he ought to do, if he hasn't already, is take a look at Carroll (The Book) again, and exchange Deb Neumeyer's name with that of someone he cares about...like, perhaps, his mother. I wonder if he'd find that revised edition funny.

And then he ought to go apologize to the people he needs to apologize to -- not because it might help him get back into school, but because it's the right thing to do. And I'm not talking about sending a letter, which he's already done. He needs to apologize in person, which is much more difficult that firing off a note. He certainly ought to explain to those people what he was trying to do, but he also needs to acknowledge his failure, and to take responsibility for it.

If he does that, what people will remember about this whole incident won't be what Fraser wrote; it will be the way he handled himself afterwards.

We’ve learned that Fraser has sent a letter of apology to adminsitrators his book might have offended. That’s a good place for the school board, which will consider the issue tomorrow night, to start discussions.

Like you, I wanted to see it myself before passing judgment. Yesterday I read it and earlier this morning posted my thoughts.

And I think that you ought to be able to do the same thing before deciding if the author in question deserved to be expelled. That's why I've decided to post the pages of the book here on Fort Wayne Observed.

I've talked to Jeff Fraser, and -- surprise -- he doesn't want the book to be made public. But he's also trying to get as much public support for his plight as possible, and that's hard to do when you're not willing to let people read the book in question.

After all this talk about it, it's time for people to finally get a chance to see it for themselves.

I think, after reading it, many of you will come to the same conclusion I did -- it's not something you'd want to include in the family Christmas card, but Fraser didn't deserve to be expelled for writing it.

I also think you'll see just how of bright Fraser is. I'm looking forward to seeing what he'll be doing a year or two down the road, after he's put all this behind him.

I'm going to be posting each page individually so that readers can comment on each page. Please, please, please -- keep your comments clean and relevant. Feel free to debate with other commenters, but don't get personal or vulgar.

# posted by Mitch : 10:26 AM