News

J. Gordon Holt's passing
Editor: I just received the October 2009 issue. It was the first I'd heard of J. Gordon Holt's passing. Being one of the baby boomers he so reviled, I can't help but wonder about the jolly individual depicted in "As We See It" (p.3). Judging from comments from Holt that had been published in Stereophile the last few years, I had a picture of a cranky if not embittered old man. Gordon looks positively welcoming in Jeff Wong's illustration. Then I turned to p.5, with the image of Gordon giving the finger, and all was right with the world.—Robert Bolmgren, jbolmgren@comcast.net

J. Gordon Holt's finger
Editor: What was the purpose of publishing the photo of J. Gordon Holt giving the finger [October 2009, p.5]? Or was it symbolic of Stereophile's attitude toward its readers? Who is it who said this many years ago (I think it was Sam Tellig)? No matter how much you criticize the American taste, it's never enough.—Val Schukin, vschukin21@aol.com

J. Gordon Holt was a complex person, and we felt that any tribute would be incomplete without the photograph of him giving the finger to the world—his favorite image of himself. Bea Lam of VTL organized a celebration in honor of Gordon at October's Rocky Mountain Audio Fest; you can see that Gordon's son, Charles, was wearing the button in question.—John Atkinson