Re: “Letter to the editor: Book ban based on morality of authors puts store on slippery slope” (May 10):
I couldn’t agree more with letter writer David Moltz.
If we remove books from the shelves of bookstores (and libraries?) because their authors have been accused of sexual misconduct or, for that matter, other offenses, how many shelves will have gaps in them, I wonder, and will that include the classics? That is a slippery slope, indeed, and one we don’t want to go down.
I suppose the impulse to do that is a reaction to the recent flurry of charges of sexual misconduct in the news, and those are disturbing, to be sure, but can we please separate art of all kinds from judgments of its creators’ personal morality?
There’s a store in Thomaston, near the Maine State Prison, that sells paintings, pottery, wood carvings and furniture made by the inmates, and if they are in the state prison, they are there for more than misdemeanors. I’ve always loved that shop because I like to think of how they are spending their time.
Art has a redemptive quality for both the creator and the viewer.
Grace Hinrichs
Rockport
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