Show Salt Lake Postmaster Native of Park Writes in Defense Dear Mr McConaughy As a resident of Park City for the first thirteen years of my life Id I'd like to offer some observations to controvert Mr Jack Pyles Pyle's bias as quoted inthe in inthe inthe the June 25 1970 issue of the Park Par Record against one of the most colorful mining camps in western America Though my point of view is frankly prejudiced I think Park City was a most appropriate place to hold the recent Western Governors Governors' Governors Governors' Gov Gov- Conference I cant can't dispute Mr Pyles Pyle's contention that Salt Lake City would have been a more convenient convenient convenient con con- in terms of transportation and a more interesting place in terms of religious background But Park City has much of consequence to offer that no large city can match It represents a piece of America that is fundamental to our national spirit of adventure adventure adventure ture and our free way of life TO THOSE OF US who spent our childhood there Park City symbolized the r rom romance o m a n c e of dangerous underground w work 0 r k the thrill of discovery and the despair of disappointment the sweat suffering sickness ex exhaustion exhaustion exhaustion ex- ex and exhilaration which come from brutally hard labor the desperation suffered in silence by parents through nonexistence nonexistence nonexistence non- non existence of sick leave social security p paid a aid i d vacation and other fringe benefits the joy of having a nickel to squander on penny candy at a country store the agony of seeing the crushed or blasted remains of some friends friend's father carried off offin offin offin in a crude coffin to a premature premature premature pre pre- mature g grave r a v e the drunken brawls and brutal fights around the old saloons the dream of parents t that hat their children might through ough the mystic processes of education come to know a more comfortable and more secure future IM I'M WELL AWARE that the I personal nature of these recollections recollections recollections would naturally make an impression on me quite different different different dif dif- dif dif- ferent from what any conference might experience But enough of the spirit and the flavor of pioneering process is still there for anyone who cares to conjure up ghosts from the old homes h horn o m e s and the old mine buildings and the old waste dumps The contribution of these memories to preservation tion of the democratic spirit is much more important than much of the technology we consider consider consider con con- sider fundamental to our lives today With reference to liquor by bythe bythe bythe the drink holding the conference conference conference confer confer- ence in Salt Lake City as suggested suggested sug sug- geste by Mr Pyle wouldn't have helped Neither would it have helped materially from an accommodations point of view for there are toilets in Salt Lake City which dont don't flush properly just as there are in Tacoma THE DISAGREEABLE weather in Park City during the time in question could have been matched most most anywhere Our family went to the Worlds World's Fair in Seattle in June several years ago and we still dont don't have the chill out of our bones The official 0 f fi cia 1 records will show Im I'm quite sure that Park City's c climate 11 mat e in June and throughout the s summer is pretty nearly ideal Temperatures are moderate the atmosphere is clear and fresh and clean and conditions for s sleeping l lee e e p pin i n g are about what one would hope to achieve through a complete system sy system system sy- sy stem of home air conditioning Most conferences of high- high ranking figures are held in large cities This has its obvious ad advantages advantages advantages ad- ad vantages but it also has its not- not quit qui t so e obvious ages In many respects the centers of concentrated population population population tion are so much alike that when one gets settled in his hotel room the city loses its individuality and becomes in indistinguishable indistinguishable indistinguishable in- in distinguishable from all the others in its its' its class Theres There's abundant transportation easy access to the news new s media a variety of places to eat and shop and a great diversity of time leisure-time activities Technological Technological Technological Tech Tech- progress is evident everywhere But the soul of America is difficult to find IM I'M NOT TRYING to make the point in this defense of my birthplace that Park City ever was an ideal place to live My father wore himself out in the mines there and my mother nearly went to her grave from worry a about b 0 u t his getting well enough to work again and our having enough to eat during his long illness But with willi all our frustrations o 0 our u r desperate struggles our occasional victories victories victories vic vic- tories and frequent defeats we had a deep sense of democracy Not an awareness of the symbols of democracy but a daily in involvement involvement involvement in- in in the substance of the free way of life My hope is that Mr Pyle and the governors will sometime sometime sometime some some- time meet again in Park City The liquor laws may still be in incomprehensible incomprehensible incomprehensible in- in comprehensible the plumbing may not work in somebody's hotel room and its it's remotely possible that the weather wont won't be ideal But the essence of I what made America great will still be there Sincerely D D. D R. R Postmaster Salt Lake City Utah |