THE SPIRIT OF ’
Re: Brian D. Johnson’s enlight-
ening article “Once We Were
Stardust” [July/August]: I agree
Woodstock was a paradox, but
I do have two questions about
Joni Mitchell’s song: First, why
is the traveller to Woodstock
called a “child of God?” Second,
apart from its melodic effect in
the chorus, why does she repeat,
“We’ve got to get ourselves back
to the garden”?
I will suggest a possible answer.
“Child of God” prepares us for
Mitchell’s allusion to the Garden
of Eden; she is tapping into the
myth of paradise. Here, “myth”
is not a fable or untruth but a
narrative with lasting or even
eternal effects. Despite the drugs
and sex and subsequent killing at
Altamont, the spirit of Woodstock
lives on.
I now understand Woodstock
more profoundly but still believe,
as populism spreads like a plague,
we need to get back to the gar-
den. —Bernard J. Callaghan,
CharlottetownHAND-ME-DOWN HISTORY
Joni Mitchell’s song “Woodstock”
was indeed essentially a dirge
for the passing of a childish illu-
sion. But more importantly, the
event itself symbolized the end of
our parents’ more virtuous era,
where, as Susan Sontag wrote,
“People had accepted that their
lives would be determined by his-
tory rather than psychology, pub-
lic rather than private crises.”
Our Woodstock Generation has
bequeathed identity politics to
our children, where people care
more about their “group” than
the country as a whole. We have
passed on an illiterate culture, de-
void of any sense of history or his-
torical continuity.We have created
and passed on an age rife withsubjective feelings of entitlement,
which would shock our parents.
Of the excesses of the time, so
well first-person described by Mr.
Johnson, Camille Paglia wrote:
“My generation of the ’60s, with
all our great ideals, destroyed lib-
eralism because of our excesses.”
—Peter Best, Sudbury, Ont.THE REVOLUTION WILL
NOT BE WHITEWASHED
Kudos to Bert Archer for “The
Other Side of Stonewall” [July/
August] in which he acknowledges
the important role of non-white,
non-gender-conforming people
in the gay movement. Their daily
lives were a resistance; it’s only
when young white kids, mostly
from the suburbs, got “hip” (this
is originally an African-American
word) to what black and brown
people had been doing forever in
locations of straight, imperialist
power (i.e., resisting) that it
became the ’60s “Revolution.”
—Dr. Richard Douglass-Chin,
Windsor, Ont.THE DIALOGUE OF
IDENTITY
Thank you to Bert Archer and
Zoomer magazine on the reflect-
ive and invitational article about
the history of Stonewall. As a
queer senior, I am appreciative of
the history that Mr. Archer brings
to our awareness. Equally if not
more important is the attention
he brings to all of us, that there
are many aspects of identity in
our lives.
As an upper middle-class settler
living in Collingwood, my loss of
the community of my birth upon
coming out was painful; however,
I was supported by many.
I have much privilege. I am
cisgendered. I am educated. I am
white. I am able-bodied.
Let us keep up the conversa-
tions across difference. Let us
build community and continue
asking hard questions. —Gloria
Fern (Kropf Nafziger), via email
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“They got rid of the moderators.”