Dear Ms. Dillard .... -- Readers Respond (Pro And Con) To The Author's Assertions About The Northwest And Intellectuals

Good gracious! Did we push a hot button!

In a Sept. 24 article we asked readers to respond to comments writer Annie Dillard made about the Northwest being no place for women intellectuals. She went so far as to say Northwest women are dull.

Thanks to you, three postal workers are out with hernias. Ross Dam shut down from the overload of e-mail messages and the entire Olympic Peninsula was clear-cut to feed our fax machine.

Oh, all right, but we did get somewhere between 150 and 4 million responses. Many were impassioned; a good number were thoughtful and instructive.

Today you'll find a sampling of excerpts. We left out the chainsaw jokes, good as they were, and the breast-feeding debates. If you want to find out what that's all about, read the transcript of Annie Dillard's original comments at below right.

We also have a preliminary report from the two professors who originally asked for your responses. Linda Lawrence Hunt, of Whitworth College in Spokane, and another Northwest native, Pamela C. Parker of Valparaiso University in Indiana, started this whole thing.

Hunt and Parker were in the audience when Dillard spoke at a writing conference. Her words at first troubled them and then made them think. They decided to show the comments to our readers and ask them to respond to whether the Northwest is or isn't hospitable to intellectuals.

Well, you told them enough to make it their life work.

We have only one more request of you. Please be open-minded as you read the excerpts. We think there are truths on both sides. -----------------------------------------------------------------

Northwesterners dull? Your responses, from nimble one-liners to an eloquent 10-page critique, prove the sodden skies of the Northwest have little effect on the intellectual climate. Whether you were supportive or critical of Annie Dillard's remarks, we were struck by the intensity of your responses and the thoughtfulness of your reflections on Northwest culture. Women and men, Northwestern natives and transplants, readers of all ages and educational levels felt compelled to respond. For this, we thank you.

We felt the same need to explore Dillard's remarks, and we hoped we might provoke further dialogue, which is the beginning of all intellectual engagement. While we are glad to have the chance to reflect on your comments, we know you will learn as much from one another as we learned from you.

Though most of you vehemently disagreed with Dillard, you answered her attempted humor with vivid wit of your own. Many of you, men and women alike, celebrated your lively intellectual communities, naming women intellectuals and mentors who had been significant to you. Others claimed they discovered rich intellectual camaraderie, but only after much effort. One Northwest transplant, lonely at first, assured us that rich sources of intellectual nourishment abound and that women's groups flourish all over Seattle, "like chanterelles in the green tunnel forests."

Still, we were struck by the number of natives and recent arrivals who lamented their sense of intellectual isolation. You felt grateful that Dillard had finally articulated something you had felt for years, claiming she was 100 percent right. One female scholar in hermeneutics and phenomenology said, "I have owned and used a chainsaw for 23 years and found it more useful in carving my niche in the Northwest than the doctorate I earned. I know what it takes to live comfortably in the Northwest wilderness, and I am always learning about the cerebral wilderness, how vast it is, and how lonely I am exploring it by myself."

You offered a variety of characterizations of distinctly Northwest communication patterns. Northwesterners, you said, tend to shy away from conflict in conversation. Strong emotional intensity, competitive bantering or directness was often interpreted as egotistical preening. As Brett Bodemer, a Seattle native and writer, argued, "All too often people squelch genuine discussions in the effort to appear supportive, caring, eco-conscious and sensitive to diversity." Some new residents felt the need to mute themselves or adapt their behaviors to suit their "more laid back" Northwest audience. Some sought out other Northwest transplants in self-defense, moved along (as one woman who wrote to us from the South did), or wondered if they had lost part of themselves in making these changes. You asked, can our penchant for tolerance and civility go too far? As several readers noted, while these qualities create pleasant driving conditions, they can also undermine lively debate. However, many others valued the more relaxed style, where intellectual posturing isn't essential or respected. "Maybe we're a lot more about doing things than we are cocktail conversational about the possibility of doing something."

Many of you struggled with the term "intellectual," at least as you thought Dillard had defined it. Others asked us to refine our own definitions and provide clearer parameters for our discussion. We confess our vagueness was intentional. By not defining "intellectual" by purely academic or traditional terms, we hoped readers would feel freer to describe their own perceptions of the intellectual climate of the Northwest. Most of you commented on the rich varieties of Northwest intellectualism and resented any attempts to circumscribe it through geography or gender. While many of us feel uncomfortable with (the) mantle of intellectualism, we are all enriched when more people can contribute to the intellectual climate of the region. Those of you who took time to respond did just that.

As educators we take the process of intellectual development seriously. We wonder, what gives a young woman or man confidence in his or her ability to grow intellectually, to want to use his or her mind to contribute to the common good? What makes others dismiss themselves as incapable or uninterested in the challenges of the life of the mind? Even in jest, comments such as Dillard's not only diminish an entire region of women, they undermine women's historic struggle to grow intellectually and to make themselves heard. When any person in a position of privilege and power contributes to the subtle silencing of others, we all lose. With the challenges facing our culture we need to encourage the intellectual engagement of all people.

Your words have prompted us to want to learn more, to listen and ask more questions. In the next year, we want to gather more material and provide a more careful analysis of the responses you provided. We hope to continue our research in venues throughout the Northwest, in both rural and urban communities. We hope we haven't heard the last of you and would value any further reflections you might send to us at the following addresses:

Pamela Corpron Parker

Valparaiso University

Valparaiso, IN 46383

Linda Lawrence Hunt

Whitworth College

Spokane, WA 99251 -----------------------------------------------------------------

Here are excerpts from among the hundreds of letters, faxes and e-mail we received.

Washington is the fifth state I've lived in. It doesn't even matter that this area boasts the highest number of graduate degrees per capita in the nation. Just go the local Laundromat and talk to the folks sitting in front of the dryers, or listen to the conversation while standing in the post office line or while waiting for the bus. The talk is not about sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll, soaps, sports or Rush. It's about an appreciation for each other, about the rich cultural offerings, about local political and social issues, about books, films and the excitement and beauty of nature. Mostly their conversations are about a sensitivity to and a considerateness for others. I continue to be amazed by the height and breadth of the worldly awareness and understandings of Northwest women and men.

The Northwest has fewer wet T-shirt contests than the Southwest, fewer shallow personalities than California, fewer qualms about biracial marriages than the Southeast, and fewer date rapes than the Northeast. Celebrate what you've got and don't let Dillard and her writing awards put you down. Christine Savage Palmer Seattle

My wife and I, both of whom have lived on the East Coast, the Midwest, and California and Washington, have made comments similar to Ms. Dillard's in the last six months or so. Our conclusions are twofold.

First, there seems to be a very strong desire in people in this region to reduce conflict and get along. While this makes for a pleasant living environment in many ways - people are courteous, they let others precede them into traffic, etc. - it makes intellectual discourse tedious and boring.

Lively discussion often engenders passionate outbursts and emotional responses. In other places we have lived, friends can do this, enjoy the debate, and still remain friends afterward. In the Northwest, we find that no one really wants to ruffle any feathers or get heated up about things.

Conflict in the realm of opinions most often results in people not wanting to see you anymore. Gradually one learns to mute one's responses. Mark Phillips Seattle

The thing that is most disturbing about Dillard's article is: "Why do we even care?!" Joanne B. Daniels Seattle

I love talking about "the life of the mind" with colleagues, but we (women and men) are a bit more apt to talk about the lovely things we did during the weekend. I think there is a tendency in the beautiful Northwest to be less intense - to care more about hiking and kayaking and less about scholarly soirees; life is simply more in balance here.

I have noticed a cultural difference from my native land, Chicago. The pace of conversation is much slower here. My first year or so here, I think people thought I was being rude because I'm used to the give-and-take of engaged conversations; here, it seems I am interrupting. Also, people let me talk on and on until I was finished - with no cues about when they wanted to jump into the conversation or if they might, in fact, have something more informative to say. I suspect Ms. Dillard was feeling quite out of sync because of speech patterns and the more gentle humor (occasionally humorlessness) of this area. I think that people here are more impressed with sincere listeners and good story-tellers than brilliant verbal entertainers and self-absorbed conversationalists. Pamela B. Joseph Mercer Island Antioch University faculty member

Having moved to the Northwest from the East 20 years ago, attended graduate school and worked in an academic environment since graduating from the University of Washington in 1978, I have been consistently delighted and stimulated by the intellectualism of the women I have met from all walks of life. Whether the women are co-workers, mothers of students in my daughter's school, members of the Mountaineers or part of my synagogue, their limitless fund of knowledge, desire to continue learning, and spirit of intelligence permeate our interactions. The contrast between my Eastern sisters and Northwest sisters is merely one of style. Women here are listeners first, more soft-spoken, with humility, but with no less intellectualism. Hillary Lipe Seattle

Had Annie Dillard made comments about New York or Los Angeles, she wouldn't have triggered an immediate, outraged call to arms. She spoke honestly, her few well-chosen words meant as gentle ribbing. She forgot; the Northwest has no sense of humor. Dillard unwittingly declared war. The many gracious, intellectual women who choose to live in the Northwest will not be the ones to challenge Annie. No doubt, they laugh with her. It's time someone had the guts to speak out about how others see us, someone with an open intellectual mind.

The Northwest is inhospitable. Period. Anonymous

Annie Dillard's observations and comments on Northwest women are gospel, and for those of us new to the area we call the natives zombies, dolts, snobs and clones. They get annoyed if you attempt idle conversation, let alone intellectual - preferring to remain in their own little boring space, often their nose in a book, living their life vicariously through others, avoiding eye contact and the horror of someone speaking to them. Lynn Watson Seattle

Having just returned to my native Seattle after 10 years in the New York publishing world - one of the centers of Eastern intellectual life - I feel compelled to respond. I admire Annie Dillard's writing. I appreciate her sense of humor. But I pity her for being a fish out of water. She just doesn't "get" intellectualism, Seattle-style.

In New York, intellectualism is sometimes worn as a badge. There's more posturing. More flinging of fancy vocabulary. More dribbling of French down office halls. For my part, if I read one more review in The New York Times lauding a book for its "wit and brio," I will gag. I know what "brio" is, but the word is so self-consciously and intellectually stylish, I would never use it. I was born in Seattle of Scandinavian heritage, raised to be practical and plain speaking.

This is no attack on the East Coast. I loved my New York experience. I planned on two years; I stayed for 10. While New York is certainly a hub of intellectual life, my point is that it's also easy to have an intellectual life in Seattle and other points Northwest. It's just expressed a little differently. Alison Koop Mercer Island

There is a reluctance to be intense - it seems to be the epitome of impropriety - to allow opinions that could be considered abrasive or argumentative to enter into a discussion that might nurture passionate response. There's a lack of texture, an unwillingness to be perceived as offending, even slightly. The need to get along or remain within acceptable bounds is more important than expressing something deeply felt.

I don't believe that women here are any less smart, articulate or capable of intellectual thought, but I do believe they are less intense, less passionate and less willing to stretch and be challenged by emotion and passion that is often the hit we need to generate new thought. Lexi Truman Seattle

Half of what Ms. Dillard was quoted as saying was a slam against Northwest men for having bad manners. And she is right. Blame it on whatever . . . a lack of family values, the women's lib movement, contact sports, video games, computers . . . Northwest men seem to lack the social skills and even the minor chivalrous displays toward women that I've observed elsewhere.

But this is not to let women off the hook. Most of the women I've dated here in the last couple of years were self-absorbed (if not self-obsessed) and any attempt on my part to discuss international topical issues was met with a blank stare or the line "Oh . . . I turned in last night before the 11 o'clock news." Christian Holtz Seattle

What I really enjoy is a stimulating conversation with interesting, intelligent people. I love ideas; I love to learn about things . . . You may ask, "If Ada Lou is an intellectual in an REI culture, why doesn't she move back to where she came from?" I'm a fourth-generation Seattleite. I love it here. But I wish I could get into stimulating discussions more often. Ada Lou Wheeler Seattle

It appears Ms. Dillard felt like an outcast here in the Pacific Northwest, and why wouldn't she? Her definition of "intellectual" is limited to three words: anyone like her. Penny Jorgensen Seattle

I was born and raised in Ohio, and spent eight years in the South as a research engineer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. While I was there I met any number of women who were strong, smart and commanding, even though they wore ruffles and always kept that big bright smile pasted firmly in place. But when the women spoke, the men shut up and listened -because the women were, simply, right.

I've been here eight years now; I love this region and want to call it home. But Dillard is right that women here are not respected for their minds. And how ironic, since some of the strongest, most competent women I've ever met live here. Why then are they so willing to allow themselves to be silenced? Is it the residue of some macho pioneer mentality? Wendlyn Alter Bellingham

It's hard to come up with a single anecdote to dispute her claims that this is a regional intellectual wasteland for women. I see intellect everywhere. I see my 80-year-old mother-in-law attending Elderhostel seminars. Soccer moms discussing the RTA on the sidelines of their daughters' games. The nine women ages 25 to 50 in my graduate school cohort studying for their master's degrees. I see couples leaving Saturday seminars at the UW before the Husky football games. I see men and women treating one another as equals in the workplace. I read letters to the editors of local newspapers. I listen to conversations in coffee bars and grocery store lines. I see full houses at Seattle Children's Theatre, The Rep and cultural events of all kinds. This is not a region of dullards. Could it be that we didn't fit Ms. Dillard's stereotype of intellectual? No Ivy League degree? Questionable family name? Wrong race? The Northwest is made of a tapestry of human experience. It is rich, diverse, and intellectual. One only needs to look around to see it. Susan Ardissono Shoreline

I had lived here for two weeks when I landed my first job. I was hired by a small property management company owned by a young man. The company was growing quickly and needed a receptionist who would eventually be able to advance to the accounting department. Although it was not discussed at my hiring, I knew what the job would entail. My "chores" would include preparing coffee for visitors and washing dirty dishes at the end of the day. I wasn't looking forward to these tasks, as I wasn't even a coffee drinker at the time. Imagine my surprise when the first visitor arrived and the owner of the company greeted the client with two cups of coffee. I was further shocked to find a roster in the kitchen that detailed the dishwashing schedule. Along with the other names on the list was that of the owner. I was thrilled to have discovered the nonstereotypical behavior. I wanted to know more about the Northwest and decided to stay. Charisse A. Flynn Seattle

Annie Dillard has been known to refer to the San Juan Islands as her absolutely favorite region of the country, waxing reverential on the slower, quieter pace, for which she had to consciously quiet her voice and slow her speech pattern. How unfortunate that Annie Dillard seems to have confused this mellowness with sexism. There may be a lack of irony or intellectualism, I have no idea; however, when a writer lauds and then laments an entire region with very little specificity, it is hard to say for sure. Ellen Bloom Seattle

If she continues to be popular in the Northwest, it may be our vindication that intellectual Northwest women will separate fact from fiction, common sense from intelligence and grit from chaff - as all discerning minds do, regardless of gender or region. Chitra Z. Parpia Woodinville

Annie Dillard is paying Northwest women as high a compliment as an Eastern intellectual woman can! Her women characters in "The Living" are wonderfully and admirably portrayed. Dillard is clearly moved by the intelligence and resourcefulness of the Western woman - of yesterday and today. But she is also fully aware that one's landscape shapes one's life and behaviors, and she herself is not of or from the West. She is not really at home here. Marcia Olson Seattle

The only women I have found I can work with and be valued by are women who transplanterd here from the East Coast or from the Midwest. It has taken me eight years to find a workplace where women are valued for their brains and not treated as "threats" because they are "smarter than the average bear."

Seattle looks desegregated from a distance, but when you get right down to it it's one of the most segregated cities in the country, and women are among that segregated groups. K.M.B.

Of course the males here follow a female around like puppy dogs, if that female is emotionally or intellectually expressive and not depressed . . . Very few people of either gender here chase - or even socially connect in any way - with other humans. I myself am married, but I pity all the single and unmatched people I have met in Seattle, male and female. Anonymous

Though betrayed by her need to appear witty, Dillard did perhaps have a point, but one that is not gender-specific. In Seattle at least, honest dialogue is hard to come by, because all too often people squelch genuine discussion in the effort to appear supportive, caring, eco-conscious and sensitive to diversity. In other words, there's a whole lot of hypocrites out there. Brett Bodemer Seattle

Pacific Northwest men have never heard about women's lib in the business world. I have had to deal with Northwest men as bankers, Realtors, car salesmen, backhoers, builders, hardware dealers and politicians. Born and bred Northwestern men do not talk to, or even look at, women who might invade their territory, unless it is for breeding purposes.

Here and there we have found the younger men treating women as equals, so there is hope - but do Northwest women really want their men to change? Down in Los Angeles, we heard women cry about the shortage of REAL MEN. They heard there were some in Seattle. But have you noticed Eastern and Los Angeles women moving here? Iris Anderson Poulsbo

As I see it, in the Northwest a life filled with thinking, study and teaching does not put one into some special category called "the intellectual woman." It's just too normal. I am surrounded by men and women, in all sorts of occupations, who think. I frequently get the bus driver who discusses Chomsky's political theory with a regular passenger. One of my friends spent all summer working with her husband and child on their commercial fishing boat. She also gives afternoon teas and does primary research on Athabaskan phonology. Somehow, I think Annie missed out on the skills necessary to connect with the intellectual life going on around her here. Nancy Ackles Shoreline

I have found that East Coast men have better manners in that they at least pretend to be interested in what I have to say, although I may find out later that they turned around from a conversation with me and forgot about me completely. West Coast men, in particular, seem to want to be entertained - to have a conversation, friendship or relationship provided to them for their disposable amusement. They have less interest in an ongoing and fluid dialogue. Katherine Woolverton Seattle

Judge from the incredible amount of talent to be found among women writers indigenous to the Northwest. There is Tess Gallagher of Port Angeles, Ursula K. Leguin in Portland, Ore., and Port Townsend's Carolyn Kizer, among others. I must believe that Ms. Dillard is giving us a good intellectual ribbing. To judge from the number of bookstores that seem to pop up overnight, and the poetry workshops, readings and classes available, I do not share the feeling the Northwest is inhospitable to intellectuals. Lynell D. Buck Everett

I work for a large Northwest company that does business in the international marketplace. Locally and across the U.S., I work with people who are not surprised to be dealing with a learned woman. People expect me to be intelligent and make critical decisions. I may not be an intellectual in the literary sense, but I am definitely an intellectual in the science and technology arena. Gwen Watkins Seattle

Speaking as a member of the guy persuasion, there seems to be no shortage of intelligent, articulate women in the Northwest. But to be an intellectual one must enjoy the discussion of ideas, and the customs between the genders vary enormously. In my circle, at least, men can enjoy animated and heated exchanges among themselves about their dearest beliefs. No one gets hurt, and it's a lot of fun. But in mixed company it is a major taboo for a man to challenge the ideas of a woman. Anonymous

I think old Annie's just having us on a bit, and I think we should be grown-up enough to respond by chuckling and trotting out a few of our East Coast horror stories in return. Terry Rayburn Mitchell Spokane

This is not the first time Dillard's puffery has angered me. Her uppity, snotty, condescending tone even glints off the pages of her books. Claudia Nelson Seattle

As a Northwest man, I would far rather spend my time in the company of capable, self-assured, independent Northwest women than five minutes in the presence of a captious bluestocking. Dillard Stay Home! P. McCartney Oak Harbor

Hush, Annie. I'm listening to the rain. Anonymous -----------------------------------------------------------------

Here are the questions professors Linda Hunt and Pamela C. Parker originally asked readers to answer:

1. In your experience, is the Northwest an inhospitable climate for intellectuals, particularly women?

2. If so, is this a regional variation of a national trend, or something peculiar to this region?

3. How should we interpret Annie Dillard's comments?

4. How would you assess her characterization of the male/female relationships?

5. Can you provide any anecdotes that either dispute or support her claims? -----------------------------------------------------------------

In addition, The Seattle Times asked readers to name local women they consider intellectual. Here is a sampling of their responses:

Ida Cole, former Microsoft executive who led the Paramount Theatre restoration.

Jean Enersen, KING-TV anchorwoman, community leader.

Pepper Schwartz, sociology professor and author.

Patty Murray, U.S. senator, D-Wash.

Susan Barnes, former first assistant U.S. attorney.

Christine Gregoire, state attorney general.

Alice Houston, Seattle Public Schools assistant superintendent.

Freddie Mae Gautier, community activist, Seattle Municipal Court supervisor.

Mary Stewart Hall, former president of Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation.

Connie Missimer, author.

Annie Laurie Armstrong, owner of Business Government Community Connections.

Kay Bullitt and Patsy Bullitt Collins, community activists.

Hazel Wolf, environmental leader

Judith Thornton, economics professor.

Elizabeth Loftus, psychologist and author.

Dana Crowley Jack, professor and author.

Tina Podlodowski, Seattle City councilwoman.