one of my many favorite letters that column inspired:

Well there goes another Mr. obvious article by yet another so called writer. Barbaro’s magnetism springs from the innocence of a trusting animal, trusting of human beings to do “right” by him and when an animal is put on pedestal by you the media and a tragedy takes place I marvel at you the media when you wonder what all the fuss is about... Yes Mr. Murphy Barbaro was a horse, thank you for pointing out the obvious. Thank God there are only a handful of mindless “writers” out there that feel the need to be Mr. obvious and just don’t get what all the fuss was about. No one cares less about the wounded soldier fighting against terrorism or the sick etc. but poorly written articles by people who think they actually have a clue by lumping human tragedy in with the love and sad story of an innocent animal proves that you are truly clueless.



PS: My hope now is that the next animal tragedy is one where a colt severely beats on a bear.



Allen Watts

Bradfordwoods, Pennsylvania

This one was my favorite:

Dear Mr. Murphy,

I’m sad to see an obnoxious reaction to Barbaro’s death coming from anyone associated with the University of Chicago. In that horse’s name, abandoned horses are rescued, funds are donated for research into laminitis, and racetracks are finally being resurfaced to improve the safety of a sport enjoyed by millions of people. In that horse’s name, thousands of people around the world are working to end the slaughter of horses in the U.S., by foreign-owned companies, for shipment overseas, a gruesome business underwritten by the U.S. government.

In that horse’s name, thousands of people are becoming more effective owners and guardians of animals – dogs, cats, horses – by learning about animal illnesses and how to care for animals at the end of their lives.

It is interesting to observe those like yourself who mock the people who have mobilized around Barbaro. What is it that you have in common? Are you so afraid of your own mortality, that you must ridicule the grieving of others? What about the horse’s suffering do you find so amusing, and what on earth does this say about you?

You do know, don’t you, that you won’t always be able to wall off your heart by jeering at the pain of others. Something will happen that overwhelms you, and your heart will break. You’ll think you’re losing control and you won’t like it, and you won’t be able to stop it. When that happens, I hope you are surrounded by people like those whose hearts are broken now, grieving people that you have ridiculed in the name of the University of Chicago.


XXXX XXXXXX

MLA Candidate, The Graham School

You know, my farewell column might have to just be a rehashing of this whole affair.

Perhaps I could end it with an indictment of my readers. Classy...