Persuasion is an art, not unlike creating a fine meal. The recipe calls for eloquence and sound reasoning, sprinkled with just the right amount of respect and a dash of firmness. If it's written persuasion, set the right temperature and turn the phrases frequently.
Which is why letters to the editor can be the most beautiful and engaging part of any newspaper.
Take the one we published in January 2005 by Jeff McCarthy of Salt Lake City. His concern was for the frequent petty crimes committed in the city. "In the lower Avenues, each day starts with glittering cubes of auto glass splashed across a passenger seat," he wrote. "And in those blue squares you can read someone's day ruined."
Not only can I see those little blue cubes, I can feel the anguish a victim would feel.
Or listen to the sincerity of Julie Ahlstrom, who wrote in February of the same year about a deadly helicopter crash in Iraq. Julie recounted how her own uncle died in a similar tragedy in Vietnam in 1968. "When I heard the news about the crash in Iraq," she wrote, "I immediately started praying that the election would go on no matter what. I thought if only 10 people voted, it would still be the first free election in their history. Freedom isn't free!"
Jonathan Hale wrote to us last June about his dislike for Sen. Orrin Hatch's annual attempt to pass an anti-flag-burning amendment. We typically get a lot of letters on that subject, both pro and con. Hale, however, caught our eye with the way he stated his case. "Hatch would follow the time-honored tradition of despots everywhere and make the symbol more holy than what it represents," he wrote. "Ironically, he would force our allegiance to liberty. . . . Patriotism would be easy if it were about protecting a piece of cloth. It is harder than that. It requires us to protect each other's liberties."
Each of these letters has one thing in common. It was selected as a letter of the month during 2005, as nominated by the editor of our Readers' Forum, Jerry Johnston, and selected by members of the paper's editorial board. A little over a week ago, we invited last year's winners to a catered luncheon where we got to know each other and were treated to a talk by sports columnist Brad Rock, himself the recipient of hundreds of reader responses each week.
Not many of them are as eloquent as what our writers of the month can conjure, by the way. Personal letters and e-mails tend to be heavy on the passion and a little half-baked. We did, however, get a kick out of the note someone sent him on several squares of toilet paper.
This luncheon has become an annual event at the News, one to which I sincerely look forward. Without fail, the people who attend are witty, articulate, bright and quick. They are a cross-section of Utah society and represent a wide range of ages and professions. Through the years we've honored high school students as well as retirees.
Not every letter we publish is eloquent or riveting, of course. But that shouldn't necessarily disqualify someone from competing on the public mat in the daily wrestling match over truth and error. But when a really good one comes along, those of us who write for a living are left wishing we'd said that.
I like to think our Readers' Forum benefits from two things in particular. One is a general philosophy that we publish letters for our readers, not for the writers. The product should be informative and just a bit entertaining.
The other is Johnston, a letters' editor who cares as much about our writers' words as do the writers themselves.
That makes for a tasty daily feast, without which this paper wouldn't be nearly as good.
Jay Evensen is editor of the Deseret Morning News editorial page. E-mail: even@desnews.com