  Cris Member Username: Cris Post Number: 493 Registered: 10-2003 |
when she so obviously has nothing to say??? http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs .dll/article?AID=/20071009/COL 02/710090303/1081 | ||
Hardhat Member Username: Hardhat Post Number: 213 Registered: 10-2003 |
I have to agree, reading that column was pretty much a complete waste of time. | ||
Alsodave Member Username: Alsodave Post Number: 795 Registered: 10-2003 |
LOL! I knew it was her before I checked the link. I stopped reading her columns years ago. Any chance they could replace her with "reruns" of Bob Talbert's column? | ||
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner Post Number: 1436 Registered: 04-2006 |
Who was drinking? Her or the editor? I liked her columns about everyday people around the State though. | ||
Dhugger Member Username: Dhugger Post Number: 191 Registered: 03-2005 |
"He sat shirtless. I recognized the man I met 27 years ago." ....."we'll see a friend from the East Coast & his 7-year-old son, the surprise blessing of his brief, shattered marriage." OMG...this sounds like a sappy romance novel. Saccharin and about an 1/8 of an inch deep. We are not at war. Men and woman are not dying. All SUSAN AGER can focus on is the semi naked man she married 27 years ago. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2064 Registered: 01-2005 |
Oh, I dunno, I kind of like her writings. As Detroitplanner notes, her columns on her travels throughout the state were pleasant reading. Maybe it's just nice to get away from all the wartime, bang-bang shoot-em-up, going-to-jail news. And that's just the sports page.... | ||
Spiritofdetroit Member Username: Spiritofdetroit Post Number: 642 Registered: 11-2006 |
meh, i liked it... | ||
Mccarch Member Username: Mccarch Post Number: 139 Registered: 12-2003 |
Today's column was groanworthy, but she's had good columns in the past. She's smart enough to talk about herself and not just generalize about the world situation. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. She's miles above Mitch Albom and the News's tag team of Laura Berman (Let me tell you about my wonderful Jewish friends in Huntington Woods!) and Marney Rich Keenan (Let me tell you about my wonderful Catholic friends in Bloomfield Hills!). | ||
Ravine Member Username: Ravine Post Number: 1400 Registered: 01-2006 |
I'm not sure if I'm seeing cynicism, or just phony bullshit, in some of these comments. The woman writes what I call "slice of life" columns. I'm not for, or against, such columns, but some folks enjoy them. I, also, enjoyed her articles about the people she encountered during her trips up and down our state's blue highways. Whatever. I wonder if the facts that we are at war, and that people are dying, cause Dhugger to suspend, or cancel, all parts of life that are not directly related to misery, violence, and death. If this time of national crisis is of such paramount importance that recognition, and consideration, of it should eclipse all else, even the tiniest of life's pleasures, then what is Dhugger doing, jacking around on DetroitYes, when that time could be better spent sitting in a corner and scowling over the turmoil in Iraq? And, oh yeah, doesn't letting all that stuff spoil, and impede our enjoyment of, Normal Everyday American Life mean that the Dreaded Terrorists have won? | ||
Dhugger Member Username: Dhugger Post Number: 198 Registered: 03-2005 |
Ravine: perhaps you are correct in observing that I am taking out my disappointment regarding the war on Susan Ager. When I should really direct my anger towards the current administration who told the nation to go out shopping to help the war effort. By the way I was at the first march on Washington against the war, regularly attend Women in Black demonstrations and will be in the upcoming rally on, October 27th, in Chicago. | ||
Ravine Member Username: Ravine Post Number: 1401 Registered: 01-2006 |
Dhugger, I sincerely salute your pro-active way of expressing your anguish regarding the war. And yes, leave Susan Ager out of it. She's merely doing her small part to share her enjoyment of some of the parts of America that are still worth celebrating. | ||
Cris Member Username: Cris Post Number: 495 Registered: 10-2003 |
LOL-- It has nothing to do with the war. It has to do with her kids, her siblings, her husband's siblings, her grandchild, her dear old uncle, her nephews, her friend on the east coast, her dad and his partner... am I leaving anyone out? God, I hope not. I'll get plenty of that fine reading at Christmas when I wade through the family letters. Does Susan Ager want to hear about all of my relatives? I doubt it. They're just as boring as hers. | ||
Sstashmoo Member Username: Sstashmoo Post Number: 480 Registered: 02-2007 |
Sounds like same person who writes the notes in fortune cookies. | ||
Iaintgotnostyle Member Username: Iaintgotnostyle Post Number: 20 Registered: 10-2007 |
why ya'll hatin cuz she gettin paid? | ||
Flyingj Member Username: Flyingj Post Number: 34 Registered: 08-2006 |
"why ya'll hatin cuz she gettin paid?" I think you meant to post this in the Kwame thread | ||
Aoife Member Username: Aoife Post Number: 28 Registered: 04-2007 |
The worst is that she had to drag poor Yeats into her mess. I am sure he would have been thrilled to be included in such eloquence......... | ||
Vas Member Username: Vas Post Number: 823 Registered: 01-2004 |
She's ok in my book. | ||
Ferntruth Member Username: Ferntruth Post Number: 175 Registered: 11-2006 |
I like her column. Both she and her husband are two of the nicest people I have ever met. | ||
Spaceman_spiff Member Username: Spaceman_spiff Post Number: 94 Registered: 02-2006 |
IMO, she does not contribute positively to the content of the Free Press. The space could be better utilized. | ||
Paulmcall Member Username: Paulmcall Post Number: 467 Registered: 05-2004 |
Turn the page and read something else. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 1499 Registered: 07-2004 |
That's what "journalism" is these days: Petty ruminations about lifestyle and passing benchmarks in life. Piffle. | ||
Jt1 Member Username: Jt1 Post Number: 10463 Registered: 10-2003 |
Here columns would be worth something if I had a pet. | ||
Fury13 Member Username: Fury13 Post Number: 2575 Registered: 10-2003 |
I liked the column. Of course, I'm stoked to the gills on Prozac and Thorazine. | ||
Vas Member Username: Vas Post Number: 824 Registered: 01-2004 |
with the amount of loudmouth know it alls out there, I'm happy to see someone reinforce the grandeur of simple things in life. I certainly don't see that on reality tv and all the wealth plastered on tv. | ||
Ordinary Member Username: Ordinary Post Number: 256 Registered: 06-2006 |
I saw that column and it put me in a pissed off mood. Cris, I agree. To me that stuff she's writing amounts to no more than bragging. She seems so smug, "Look at me and how wonderful my life and family are! Don't you wish you could be more like us?" Barf, puke, vomit. Fury 13. You cracked me up. | ||
Cynknight Member Username: Cynknight Post Number: 96 Registered: 11-2003 |
I like a lot of her work - and yes, sometimes it's overly sweet, I agree. What's so wrong about writing positively about your family and simple contentment? Maybe some of you are a little jealous that she has a family she enjoys? Twelve years ago Susan Ager wrote a feature story on my mom and dad (dad had Alzheimers, mom was coping by re-reading his 600 love letters from 45+ years ago). I will always be grateful for that article - two months later my father passed away, and it helped my mom cope with losing him (for the final time). JMO | ||
Alsodave Member Username: Alsodave Post Number: 800 Registered: 10-2003 |
Cynknight, Very touching--thank you for sharing that with us. Dave | ||
Alsodave Member Username: Alsodave Post Number: 801 Registered: 10-2003 |
Oh, I just read the column. It wasn't so bad.  | ||
Granmontrules Member Username: Granmontrules Post Number: 199 Registered: 01-2007 |
We don't even read the FREEP anymore. It is a horrible paper. I think the NEWS is much better. | ||
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2 Post Number: 298 Registered: 07-2007 |
the only reason my parents got the freep because it was delivered in the morning. she always bitched about it in the 70's | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 10689 Registered: 12-2003 |
Some of her most poignant stuff was in the months after 9/11. Anyone who has to write on deadline, with story lines that are NOT always her own...nah, she's a pro and good at what she does. She was encouraged to do that drive around state, and had trepidation about it until after probably the second or third stop on her first trip. I don't think anyone was prepared for how good and popular that whole endeavor turned out to be...and she was perfect for it. Thought about her driving across the UP today...one of her visits was to Old Dapper Dan, a hermit who lives in the woods west of Grand Marais. I met the fellow back in '97 or so when I stayed in a friend's cabin...who happens to live next door! Matter of fact, he mentioned in his interview his 'favorite book', the Bible. I'd bet big money that he still uses the one I bought and sent up to him...I've got to go search him out the next time I'm up there. Susan might publish some stuff that rubs you the wrong way...but like certain posters here, her copy can be skimmed or even skipped easily. I wasn't particularly tickled over the colonoscopy retentiveness a few years back, but that article alone increased awareness and changed the posture of many women towards having the procedure...from the feedback she got afterwards. Nah, I adore Susan Ager. The Freep would do well to keep her around, if ONLY to piss off those who don't want to believe they're merely human. | ||
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2 Post Number: 304 Registered: 07-2007 |
but, the again what would a reporter be without a few being pissed off at then, Nothing! | ||
Smogboy Member Username: Smogboy Post Number: 6069 Registered: 11-2004 |
I can tolerate her stuff a heckuva lot more than I can Mitch Albom's. It's at least somewhat real and from the heart compared to Mitch's recollection of MSU basketball players and their sightings. | ||
Oldredfordette Member Username: Oldredfordette Post Number: 2885 Registered: 02-2004 |
So lame, so featherweight, so inane. | ||
Smogboy Member Username: Smogboy Post Number: 6070 Registered: 11-2004 |
But still truthful compared to Mitch. | ||
Pistonian_revolution Member Username: Pistonian_revolution Post Number: 91 Registered: 05-2006 |
it's not that susan ager writes overly sweet sappy stuff. its just that she's demonstrated a knack for consistently writing poorly. "Let me dare jinxing this moment. It began as we puttered into the harbor at dusk after an hour's sail in a warm south wind. We put up only the jib. It was enough." this stuff would not get a C+ from any of my english professors at wayne state. i think slice of life columns are a breath of optimistic fresh air every so often. but this woman does not know how to write. i can only imagine on how out-of-towners reflect on detroit/michigan culture if news articles like these were their only exposure to detroit media. | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4219 Registered: 10-2003 |
While is more the stuff of a blog than a paper, I found it inoffensive, technically well written and sincere. Yeah there is a little escapism in it and a bit on the sweet side, but none of us can pound on the world's problems non stop. It doesn't hurt to step aside for a minute, have a glass of wine, laugh a little and count our blessings. I say thumbs up. | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 186 Registered: 08-2007 |
Velvetta is the number one selling cheese in America for a reason, and it isn't because it is good cheese. | ||
Ednaturnblad Member Username: Ednaturnblad Post Number: 21 Registered: 09-2006 |
I like reading Susan's column. Sure, not every musing of hers is life-changing, but her overall work is good. Part of the appeal is that she's a Polish girl from Detroit, and she deeply understands the Polish/Catholic/Family sensibility and has often written about it - something that resinates with many metro Detroiters. So, she's OK in my book... | ||
Southwestmap Member Username: Southwestmap Post Number: 932 Registered: 01-2005 |
I never read her columns. I think they are a waste of time and it irritates me that she was able to get such a sweet deal as to be paid for writing about breakfasts at the bakery in her little town somewhere Up North. Does the Freep even have distribution outlets up there any more? If the Free Press doesn't see Up North as a viable reader market - why should the paper give up space to Susan's Up North musings. Very boring. And I'm also personally annoyed by her obvious pro-abortion and anti-Catholic agendas - so I just don't read her. And I've read too many of her no-Christmas gifts columns - and I'm someone who basically agrees! Enough. Give us some incisive news commentary. Also, the News should get rid of Marni Rich Keenan - absolute drivel. Susan Berman - more of the same. Are these women some peace offerings to attract women readers? Is it working? | ||
Russell Member Username: Russell Post Number: 42 Registered: 11-2003 |
I'm a woman and Keenan & Ager both get on my nerves too when they ramble on about their personal lives. I do however like when they write about others that are newsworthy | ||
Oldestuff Member Username: Oldestuff Post Number: 52 Registered: 01-2007 |
I like Susan Ager too. And I am so surprised that so many of you actually read the newspaper - and watch mundane TV (previous blog) I was under the impression that you sat at the keyboard day and night to express your inane opinions | ||
Mtm Member Username: Mtm Post Number: 255 Registered: 06-2006 |
I'm a big fan of Susan's even though I don't always agree with her. Many things she writes about (aside from this article) are things I can closely relate to like her mother suffering a horrid cancer just after I had lost mine. I'm not sure I ever saw an anti-abortion column from her and, though she was raised Catholic as most of us Poles were, I don't think she pushes that too much either. As many of you intoned, we're so used to being bombarded by bad news - the War, shootings in detroit, children dying - that it's somewhat calming to read about normal people who are leading normal lives. | ||
Ravine Member Username: Ravine Post Number: 1432 Registered: 01-2006 |
Just to chime in, again-- as though anybody gives a damn about my chiming-- I have to say that I think Susan Ager received a tough, but fair, review here. Those of you who gave her columns a thumbs-down were, pretty much, just being honest & straightforward about your reasons. Bravo to that; too often, here on DY, we (I do it, too) go 'way overboard with our criticisms, get personal about it, and dish out hostility & insults that are, well, excessive? I actually believe that Ager could read this thread, appreciate the broad-view input, and not have hurt feelings. Nice job, gang. I defended her columns, earlier, because I found some of the criticism to be over-the-top, but the fact is that I, too, find her columns to be just a bit too warm & fuzzy, but I feel that way about a lot of things, so I figure that my having that reaction doesn't mean much. The column that I really enjoy is Barbara Wallraff's "Word Court," which shows up (on an irregular basis) in the Life section of the Sunday Free Press. Heaven for Language Geeks. A very talented Free Press writer is Jo Ann Barnas, who writes for the Sports section, but doesn't get the plum assignments because, whatever the specific area, there is usually someone ahead of her in the pecking order. And oh yeah, fuck Mitch Albom, the little bullshitter. | ||
Smogboy Member Username: Smogboy Post Number: 6078 Registered: 11-2004 |
Nicely put Ravine. I think any writer is open for criticism of their work if it's fair and honest. I'm sure if she were to read the truly honest ones, she'd even be thankful for the input. Anyone in a creative field should be open to good criticism and be able to take something away from it. Mean spirited criticisms for the sake of just being mean have no merit and only speak of the person spewing the venom. And yes I agree with you about Mitch. I refuse to read his stuff anymore. His credibility as a journalist with me has been shot already. He should just stick with his books and such. To be associated with the Freep only lowers the standards of the paper. | ||
Southwestmap Member Username: Southwestmap Post Number: 933 Registered: 01-2005 |
I meant pro-abortion (I need an editor)! | ||
Ravine Member Username: Ravine Post Number: 1434 Registered: 01-2006 |
Not only do I think Mitch Albom is a bullshitter, I find his writing style to be annoying. He likes to use one-sentence paragraphs. Like this. I suppose that he thinks it adds emphasis. It's crude and stupid. |
