Dear Editor I was heartbroken to learn of the passing of Becky (Barber) Trefren, former editor of the Grants Daily Beacon in Grants. She was also on staff at the Annapolis Capital newspaper in Maryland and served in public relations for the Port of Baltimore.
I was blessed to work for her as a sportswriter/photographer at the Beacon from 197377. We were both just kids then, me, barely out of high school with no degree or training in journalism, and Becky only three years my senior but already turning heads in the newspaper business. We suffered through many growing pains together and Becky's patience with me was biblical in proportion.
She and her mom, publisher Mrs. James B. Barber, were the tough, no-nonsense Dynamic Duo who guided us to become an award-winning publication even against the ABQ Journal and other papers with circulation numbers many times bigger than ours. This was at a time when WOMEN owning and managing a newspaper was unheard of! The Barbers always remained true to the paper's namesake -- the Beacon -- a shining light empowering little girls everywhere to DREAM BIG and to make their dreams a reality even in the male-dominated field of journalism at the time.
Our successes came from Becky and 'Mrs. B' treating us as FAMILY, not simply as employees. And just like any family, we laughed together, cried together, fought like cats and dogs, but always with an abiding love that made us stronger TOGETHER. Their insistence that we be firm, fair, and consistent in our news reporting served me well later in life during my 26-year career as a corrections officer when I found out that 'firm, fair, consistent' is a motto of the NM Department of Corrections.
As people turn increasingly to social media for 'breaking news,' and readership of 'print' journalism continues to wane; I must admire Becky and her mom as newspaper pioneers in NM, especially as women fighting for their right TO BE. The site where the Grants Beacon was printed half a century ago, is now a vacant lot covered by weeds in our little dusty town.
But I still smile every time I drive by as memories of the Barbers and us.
Beacon Family fills my heart again.
RIP, Becky, you were one of a kind!
A Call for Unity and Understanding
Dear Editor, Regarding the Middle East conflict, it is important to recognize that this horrific destruction is caused by several extremists led by Netanyahu and Hamas operatives, not all Jews, and not all Palestinians. The war in Ukraine is caused by another extremist/ dictator: Putin. Here at home, a third, Trump, preaches extremism when he, for instance, calls for his followers to attack anyone in his way.
Netanyahu is trying to keep himself in power together with a certain number of militant Israelis. They are the dark shadow side of holocaust survival; so extreme is their rage and fear of another holocaust that they need to destroy any threat to their safety, and this makes them become the evil they hate. Most Israelis do not want this, just as most Palestinians do not want to overthrow Israel, and many Russians do not want to destroy Ukraine.
Extremists are the real enemies, not whole ethnic groups, or nations, whether in Russia or Israel or here. We let their words enlarge our fears and prejudices. It is vitally important for us all to recognize the value of our equal rights and protections, and not let anyone “work us up”, especially so much as to make any one of us go off shooting or stabbing anyone.
“Keep calm in the midst of conditions.” This is really, Really, hard for me. Having the aches and pains age bestows, I lose emotional control easily. However, I would never take that to the level of physical violence. The Pandemic alone has ended many lives and frightened us all, and then climate changes make us all nervous. That’s enough to live with, I think. Ideologies (setups with leaders that often sling blame on one group or another) are too much right now. I hope Netanyahu and Putin are taken from their positions, and Trump is no longer seen as a savior to his followers. Then maybe we all can begin to use our energy to do real things, however small, to improve conditions in our world.
Joan Sheski