Editor:

Publisher Judy Hodgson begins her column "Maybe Next Year (July 14)," "I think we can all agree that last week was a particularly bad week for news" — then says she was in Austin, not Dallas.

A bad week for news?!

It was a tragic week for humanity!

Shamelessly exploiting the heinous murders in Baton Rouge, Dallas and St. Paul as her "news hook," Hodgson proceeds to insult readers with her vanity and callous disregard of the depth of our national tragedy. She serves up a callow travel narrative about an obscure newspaper convention that opens with chicken-fried steak and black peas.

"See me, I'm a hot shot in the big city!" Hodgson is actually saying, in a transparent and acutely embarrassing advertisement of herself.

She closes (naturally) with a self-centered lament that her obscure back country newspaper didn't win a free speech award.

"So I didn't get that shot of tequila this year on behalf of the Journal editorial team," she sobs.

Hodgson should spend six months on assignment on a big city police beat or in Baghdad, Damascus, Dhaka, eastern Ukraine, Mogadishu, Nice or Sana'a.

By the way, Ms. Hodgson, your own county is one of California's murder capitals.

Paul Mann, McKinleyville