Fair Comment 

Editor:

Whatever “synergy” is, it sure seems to rob the “synergist” of their sense of humor, judging by the don’t-be-mean-to-us tone of the four letters published (“Mailbox,” Nov. 26 and Dec. 4) in response to Emily Hobelmann’s tongue-in-cheek preview of the Synergy Fair (“Synergasm,” Nov. 13). My reading of the original piece is that was a wonderfully fair-minded piece of journalism.

Of course many of us are skeptical of the claims of what Ms. Snow calls “complementary alternative healing modalities.” Those of us who have sought in vain for empirical evidence that holistic approaches actually work have become increasingly cynical as one after another New Age quick-fix is trotted out.

Which is what makes Ms. Hobelmann’s preview so effective. She addresses, in a playful and readable way, the concerns of the skeptics in the community, then -- having got our attention -- turns it around and invites the hard-nosed reader to “shed our bitter and doubting skin to bathe in the light of healing goodness ... take advantage of healing sessions ... get some of your holiday shopping taken care of.”

C’mon guys! She was doing you a favor! Your humorless and defensive objections leave the impression that you’re really not much fun to be around. And that isn’t true, right?

— Barry Evans, Eureka