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editoriol poge Thin Edge Of The Wedge? ' The dramatic and sudden release last Friday of one of the American diplomats held hostage in Iran marks what could be the first positive step in the resolution of this international crisis which has dragged on for more than 7 eight months. Richard Queen was released on the orders of Ayatollah Khomeini himself, for health reasons. And while Queen had to be carried by stretcher off the plane bringing him from Iran to Europe, the precise nature of his ailments remain a mystery several days after his release. The Ayatollah and his Islamic regime now in power in Iran have not been noted in the past for their humanitarian beliefs, so it may be fair to assume that the release of Queen represents some kind of signal from the Iranians to the Americans that it is time to negotiate an end to this stalemate and free the remaining 52 hostages. There could be any number of reasons why the Iranians may be anxious to end this dispute, but the most likely is that the trade sanctions imposed by the v United States and other western countries are beginning to create internal problems for Iran. There are reports out of that country of severe shortages of many goods, including necessities. It is exceedingly difficult to run a country on revolutionary fervor alone. There have also been reports of on-going power struggles, even within the Islamic clergy between the hard-liners and the more moderates. And always lurking in the background of this difficult international crisis is the possiblity that the Soviet Union will take advantage of the lack of stability in Iran, and 'come to that country's aid," much the same way it did in Afghanistan. Nobody, not the Ayatollah, the Islamic clergy, the people of Iran, or the governments of the United States or other western countries would like to see a Soviet adventure into Iran. If indeed, the release of Richard Queen is a signal that the hostage situation is open for the start of some kind of negotiations, it is imperative of course, that the United States explore the possibility. The resolution of this crisis and the easing of tensions between Iran and the United States would go a long way in easing the pressures that now exist throughout that part of the world. And that would be a message to Moscow, which almost always undertakes its military forays during times of instability and crisis. Despite the current dislike western nations may harbour for the Islamic regime of the Ayatollah, Iran has been and will continue to be of crucial strategic importance to the balance of power in that part of the world. Good Decision In deciding in favour of a land re-zoning which will permit Port Perry IGA store to expand its parking and premises, the Ontario Municipal Board has ruled that the interest of the public at large has a higher priority than the interest of a group of residents of Mary Street who fear that a truck entrance to the store from Mary Street will damage the character of the street and present a safety hazard. We can find little fault in that kind of reasoning. However, the residents of Mary Street do have a real concern, one that the OMB acknowledges. We would hope that the proposed expansion of the IGA can go ahead as planned because the health of that store is essential to the overall health of commerce in downtown Port Perry. However, we would suggest that every possible step be taken to protect the residents of Mary Street to minimize as much as possible the effects of 3 heavy trucks using that street. Hopefully, the Township council, the owners of the IGA store and the residents can reach some kind of mutually acceptable arrangement to this end. bill IS v " 3 \ 3 Y A, ESS ny \ H © gt be {y's \ od «Be 2a or > / JX 2 " "WHAT YoU DOIN' ON YOUR HOLIDAYS THIS YEAR 7" -- R$ It also contains every dirty word you ever though you might like to say, and every violent deed you might like to commit. It's years. He wrote one about a young Jew, then about a slightly older Jew, then about a ¥ really middle-aged Jew. I'm looking So ap irr Sas a NS ge 1 = ena orl A Be ny LIT CRIT "If you're so smart, why don't you write something intelligent and literary?' That's what a lady said to me, after reading in that dumb article that I was a graduate in honor English. My immediate response was, "If you're so smart, sister, why are you reading that trashy weekend magazine?" Fortunately, as they say, cooler heads prevailed, and my wife and I were once more pried apart before we could injure each other. O0.K. You want literary criticism? You shall get it. I've just finished reading "Needles", the novel that won for its author, William Deverell, $50,000 in a new gimmick established by, I think, Seal paperback books and the old and - it says here - reputable Canadian publishing firm of McClelland and Stewart. It was, according to the cover blurb, the unanimous choice of the judges. I wonder who the judges were. Gordie Howe? George smiley Chuvalo? Lassie? "Needles" cannot be written by a fine young Canadian. It is straight out of Sax Rohmer by Mickey Spillane with James Bond doing the accouchement. It is pure garbage. But the sort of garbage that makes you dig right to the bottom of the garbage can. (Note the repetition of the word garbage there, you literary crits?) But it is wonderful garbage, and that's why the judges chose it. It will sell. It's so rotten that I finished it at three a.m. It's so bad you can't put the dang thing down. It has everything that the modern reader wants, and can't quite get, even though TV and the movies are bursting their corsets to probe our every abberation. It has kinky sex, drugs, genital mutilation, booze, a cop who likes kicking people in the guts, a courtroom scene with a lawyer who is shooting into his vein, and a re-incarna- tion of Dr. Fu Manchu, the great Chinese villain of the aforementioned Sax Rohmer's books. bound to be a best-seller. And that is' why Gordie, George and Lassie chose it. Not for literary merit. To be fair, it has a few great descriptive passages from the Vancouver Chamber of Commerce tourist booklet, and some switches right out of John Le Carre. So sue me, Jack McClelland. Everything is in my wife's name. Actually, I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, and I'm sure you will, too, if you can't get enough sex and violence at home. Might as well get all this lit crit out of my system at once. That brings up - no pun intended - Mordecai Richler's new novel. I haven't read it, because the library has not yet stocked it, and may never do so. When his novel, '"Cocksure" won the Governor General's Award, I chaffed our local librarian because it wasn't on the shelves. Her reply, and she was right, was that it was too dirty for our town. We must have had a dirty old man as Governor General at the time. At any rate, as they say when they don't know how to begin the next paragraph, grumpy old Mordechai has once again gone through his gestation, and produced. And once again, he is into the Jewish thing. In short, he has once more re-written the same novel that he has been honing for forward to his novel about an old Jew. Simply, Mordecai Richler, after a couple of good attempts, went back to the fecund well on his own background, drew from it, and drank deeply. The results are first-rate. He has not yet produced a "masterpiece," as MacLean's, that pale copy of something or other, called his latest work. What's a masterpiece? A piece done by a master, which is recognized a hundred, or three hundred years later by the current expert on masterpieces. hakespeare was a journeyman play- writer. Dickens sold his stuff to magazines, and padded it unscrupulously, because he was paid by the word. Nobody would touch Conrad with a ten-foot pole until he was aging. We have some excellent writers in "Canada. If you want to see into the mind of a woman, read Margaret Laurence. If you want to see into the mind of a Catholic moralist, read Morley Callaghan. If you want to see into the mind of a WASP, read Richard Rohmer. And so on. But if you want to read the works of a hard-nosed satirist, who lays it right on the line about this country of ours, read Richler. Too bad his novels are too dirty to teach in high school. But I have snuck in Duddy Kravitz. Ar -------------------- BE OI tps