Amy Dickinson
Smears Tonya Harding

Amy Dickinson article

"Ask Amy" Dickinson   

Editor note: Strangely, more than any other complaint, our readers are writing about Amy Dickinson, national columnist. They write that Amy Dickinson is heartless, rude, nasty, mean spirited, and working in the wrong profession. This may or may not be true. Perhaps one needs to read between the lines. We don't see any direct evidence, and to be honest, we at the Oregon Herald don't have much of an opinion one way or the other. But we do see many readers who are rather upset with Dickinson's lack of "respect and insight."

We selected one of the more intelligent, fair, and better written opinions sent to us, admittedly second hand, sent to us by the webmaster of The Tonya Harding Website, the official website, indeed, Tonya Harding herself) with the hope that Amy Dickinson may begin to find a deeper sensitivity and understanding, where the world is not always black and white, and perhaps begin to practice what she so often preaches.

Simply as another human being, Tonya Harding deserves consideration and understanding, not the butt of a declarative joke from an insensitive Journalist paid to be sensitive, if not entertaining. Harding was allegedly abused as a child and deserves a second chance in her life. Don't we all?. She could be treated with much more understanding, especially from a "Ask Amy" Dickinson, a sometiems shallow , if talented columnist. And yes, in her column, we do accuse her of overreacting, at the least.

While reading the January 7, 2005 Oregonian, I was shocked to see a derogatory reference about Tonya Harding in the "Ask Amy" column. The comment was so uncalled-for and so unfair that I immediately sent an e-mail to the columnist Amy Dickinson.

Dear Amy, I read your column in the Oregonian and I enjoy it very much. You are wise, compassionate and witty. However, I was dismayed to see you report a serious error in today’s column (Jan. 7), in response to the reader who witnessed a mother berating her 5 or 6–year–old daughter during and after an ice–skating lesson. You suggested directly facing the abusive mother with the comment, "Hello Tonya Harding. Please stop yelling at your little girl…" You are seriously off the mark here.

When I read the first sentence of the letter I immediately thought of Tonya Harding––AS THE LITTLE GIRL! When Tonya was a little tyke the age of the girl in question, and even younger, many people witnessed her mother violently berating her at ice skating lessons. Tonya’s passion for ice skating was entwined with enduring her mother’s verbal and physical abuse. I would suspect that parental abuse and neglect during Tonya’s formative years strongly affected the twists and turns in Tonya’s life and factored into the mistakes she made. Tonya is not a mother herself and there is no evidence I am aware of that Tonya has ever berated or abused a child in any way.

Tonya Harding was a victim of child abuse and it is egregiously unfair to imply that she would engage in the abusive behavior described in the afore–mentioned letter. Tonya is far from perfect but she does not deserve the implication made in your column. What she does deserve is a retraction and an apology from you. Please consider doing this.

Annelise

Published by permission from The Tonya Harding Website