Lenore Skenazy used to have a column at the NY Daily News before the op-ed page was taken over by dweebs. There are exceptions, but having the page dominated by the likes of Charles Krauthammer and Richard Cohen leaves something to be desired. It also is not ideal for the page not to have a regular woman op-ed page columnist (there now is one elsewhere in the paper, a gossipy entry that leaves something to be desired). And, don't get me started on the editorial voice of the paper overall. Kneejerk conservative basically covers it.
The basic news coverage (it has decent national coverage for a local tabloid) and other features plus the basic layout makes the paper, the paper I grew up on anyway, still worth buying. But, I do miss some of the old columnists. Back in the day, there were various regulars (even Mike Royko was syndicated there) who provided a personal touch and covered various topics. Gail Collins, for instance, was not always an editor over at the NYT. Stanley Crouch, who is okay but not quite for me, is perhaps the only one truly left of this category. This absence robs the paper of a personal touch. For instance, there is a regular odds and ends type column by a television reviewer, and it adds a nice personal touch to the page.
LS fit this category. She had a column that dealt with serious news of the day as well as still pretty serious (in a fashion) more personal stuff and material covering the social scene. It was this latter category that led her to "Free-Range Kids" (good deal -- those factory farmed kids, not nice), a blog and book arising from a column (she moved to The NY Sun, an alternative that eventually went out of business) discussing how she let her nine-year-old go home alone from midtown Manhattan. Charged with child abuse in absentia, she started a blog for "anyone who thinks that kids need a little more freedom and would like to connect to people who feel the same way."
The blog basically is about perspective. Now, my mom would not have let me do what she let her son do at that age (sure, as LS will tell you, NY was more dangerous back then), and (to quote Letterman in a different context) doing so even today is a bit "hinky."* Putting that aside, life overall needs perspective, even with scary stuff. So, she has a recent blog post on how teenage boys have been labeled "sexual predators" for touching the breasts of teenage girls. Or, "day care" rules that disallow friends to pool babysitting. And, kicking a mom off a bus for a crying child. Anecdote can at some point make you lose perspective too (a few bad cases doesn't mean things are bad overall), but it also keeps people honest -- rules are often wide range and without exception, life a bit more messy and need of special circumstances.
[Further thought: And, anecdote can be but a reflection of wider trends. It's a tricky matter sometimes but it is all so easy as well to just dismiss a few examples as but random anecdotes. It's like when I say something online and someone is all dubious because I do not have an in depth expert research paper on the matter. Plus, when enough readers nod at what is said -- as in her case -- it is a sign that someone is on to something. And, yes, she did do some research on stuff she writes about. Due care is warranted, however, since others do not, or do so selectively. George Will and climate science (or a number of things) is a but an example.]
I added her to the blogroll, since it adds a nice perspective of things. One last thing to say is that she comes off as a nice person. [The video on the Amazon page for her free range book does suggest she is the next Andy Rooney.**] A couple times over the years, I dropped her a line to compliment her on a column and also added a comment to her blog. She replied with a sweet reply even dropping me a line when I commented on her blog recently. Now and again, I email those who write something in the paper -- the email address usually provided -- and often they do supply a nice reply. [Not all, but a majority.]
It's an example of how a quick act can help people's judgment.
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* But, some do have exaggerated fears of this city, including its subways. I have traveled on them, including nights, enough to know that they are pretty darn safe. Crossing the street in Manhattan also can be safer than some other areas as well. For instance, the more people that cross at a particular intersection, the better it is for the pedestrians.
** Her page over at the blog does note: "She also spent several years as an on-air (younger, cuter) Andy Rooney, first at CNBC and then at the Food Channel."