DEAR EDITOR:
At the risk of stirring Ray Gilmore’s ire by commenting on
Florence Trimble one more time, I am writing in reply to his letter
published Thursday.
DEAR EDITOR:
At the risk of stirring Ray Gilmore’s ire by commenting on Florence Trimble one more time, I am writing in reply to his letter published Thursday.
He accuses The Dispatch of becoming a forum paying too much tribute to Florence. While it is clear that he finds my articles interesting enough to read on a regular basis (which I appreciate), he seems to be critiquing me for personal bias as he cites the number of times I have written about Florence. But don’t give me all the credit; what about all the other people who have been paying tribute to Florence as well?
Other Dispatch reporters have written about her, as has Dennis Taylor, and the editorial board at The Dispatch captured the essence of her life in a beautiful eulogy. Pastors all over Gilroy have been lauding her from their pulpits. A gardener sat in a chair across from me and sobbed as he told of what Florence’s kindness had meant to him. That’s the kind of person she was: crossing all religious and cultural barriers and touching the life of everyone from the mayor to a priest to a gardener as if each were her best friend.
She was known far and wide (and well beyond Gilroy as well) for the ways she changed peoples‚ lives for the better – we were privileged to know her. If Helen Keller had walked among us, would we complain that the newspaper had too many good things to say about her? If Mother Teresa was here healing the sick and saving the poor, would we accuse the paper of being biased for trumpeting her accomplishments?
The truth is we will never see the likes of a woman like Florence again in Gilroy, and a month and a half of mourning her passing and celebrating her life is not excessive. One life can make a difference, and hers did. Gilroy is a different place than it would have been without her. Yes, life goes on and many other topics will replace her in the headlines soon enough, but once in a while a great citizen comes along who impacts an entire community.
Let there be no apologies for the amount of ink that has been used in paying tribute to the life of Florence Trimble. It is but a mere drop in the vast ocean of appreciation her life merits.
KAT TERAJI, Gilroy
Submitted Friday, Feb. 7
