We have many fine, creative writers and deep thinkers in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County and the surrounding area, and we're fortunate that many of them contribute to the Journal's readers' forum. Last year the editorial staff began recognizing some of these writers in the Sunday edition as our Correspondent of the week. The selection is sometimes difficult and even competitive, as we narrow the letters to the one we feel is the best-written, best-reasoned and timeliest of the week.
Early last week, with the holidays behind us, the editorial staff gathered to choose what we considered to be our Correspondent of the year for 2009 from among our weekly winners. We hoped to find one whose letter had held up over time.
The selection process was more difficult than usual, but after several elimination rounds, we finally selected Jonathan Arthur as our 2009 Correspondent of the year, recognizing his Oct. 4 letter, "Important factors," as the one we felt was the most cogent and best written of the year. Arthur will receive an engraved plaque, a $50 gift certificate for a local restaurant and two tickets to the Winston-Salem Symphony.
Arthur, 29, moved to Winston-Salem with his family in 1995 from Fort Monroe, Va., after his father retired from the Army. He attended and graduated from West Forsyth High School in 1999 and is currently working toward a degree at Forsyth Technical Community College. He drives a street sweeper at night and also works with a local tree-removal company. Arthur enjoys reading about history and science and keeps up with politics and current events.
About his letter, he says: "I submitted my letter to address one particular correspondent who felt that compromise was a quality that indicated weakness or submission. There are of course many opinions that I have read in your paper that I disagree with, but I felt this one in particular should not go unaddressed. It was important for me not to point any finger or lay blame on the doorstep of any political party. I merely wanted to defend what I feel is an important virtue, the ability and willingness to compromise. I simply don't see how anything of significance is possible without it."
Arthur's letter calmly reminds us of our deep American roots and harkens to what Lincoln described as the "better angels of our nature."
Personally, I found the closing sentence of his letter to be one of the most uplifting and encouraging sentiments I read in a year that was sometimes overshadowed by strife and discontent.
Our second-place correspondent for 2009 is Curtis Patterson, for his Nov. 22 letter, "The American dream."
Our third-place correspondent for 2009 is James E. Munden, for his Nov. 8 letter, "Flight of Honor."
Both of their letters, along with the names of all of 2009's winners, can be found online at: http://www2.journalnow.com/p/content/correspondent-2009/
I appreciate everyone who writes to the Journal, and I encourage others to join in; we couldn't have The readers' forum without you.
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