Letters to the Editor: Multiple Income Streams Ease Cash Flow Pain

Multiple Income Streams Ease Cash Flow Pain
Editor, Times-Dispatch: The recent article, "Museum Official: Fundraising Slow -- Confederate Director Still Backs Expansion Beyond Richmond," demonstrates as never before the importance of interagency cooperation and the need for multilateral, cross-interest fundraising efforts on the part of nonprofit entities.

Decentralization of the collections of the Museum of the Confederacy (MOC) is not the problem, nor is it even a particularly novel idea; the Metropolitan Museum provides a prime example of such an effort, with the bulk of its medieval collection housed at The Cloisters. (Hopefully, the MOC's plans will include architecturally appropriate selections in the model of The Cloisters; the Fort Monroe proposal provides hope on that front.)

In terms of cross-interest funding options, including the Confederate White House on tours of restored historical houses in the region would attract visitors who may hold no particular interest in the Civil War. Licensing of upholstery patterns from White House fittings and furnishings, to be sold off-site in the retail sector, would mirror a decades-old Met strategy, which generates hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

As a collector and part-time dealer in rare books, I'm aware of the iconic status many accord the bookcase featured so prominently in the Davis family's wartime home. Collectors who readily part with thousands of dollars at a clip for first editions would gladly spend generous sums for a well-crafted reproduction of such an item. This could be paired with an educative effort in local woodworking classes, in the same spirit as the ongoing construction of the cathedral church of St. John the Divine, where inner-city youth are employed, gaining practical knowledge of traditional construction skills.

Rather than bemoaning the economic crisis, it might be best to rethink the normal mode of doing business and explore multiple income streams in concert with other local and regional resources.

Kenneth Decker.
Richmond.

It's hard to fault my friends. They live in a world that places an insane amount of interest in the personal lives of celebrities. Even though I was raised in this era, I find that a difficult concept to grasp. What have these people done that demands our attention?

My father worked for the City of Richmond's foster care department for 30 years. After he died, for years we received calls from his old foster children, now grown men and women, looking to express their gratitude for a man who changed their lives. He was a spectacular father, husband, and friend, and the magnanimity of his life was equaled only by the lack of national coverage of his death.

And yet, Jackson dies -- to be sure, a terrific entertainer and vocalist, and probably a pretty good guy -- and major networks clear their schedule for him. Twitters light up, Facebook overflows with disbelief, and text messages are sent around the world.

I don't care that Jackson died. It's not on my radar. If that sounds callous or cruel, one only need look at my father's grave, which is far less adorned with gifts and flowers than Jackson's certainly will be. We don't need to invest so much energy discussing people we don't know. That is the linchpin of my argument: We didn't know Michael Jackson.

Go in peace, I say to him -- and thank you for the wonderful music. Lay him to rest and let's move on.

Daniel Payne.
Richmond.

And where was the news of cap-and-trade? On page 11. And whose picture graces that article? Al Gore, who has been out making money touting global warming -- now changed to climate change. A few years ago, the doomsayers were telling us we were in for an ice age -- and they were wrong, too.

And on it goes.

Carolyn Horton.
Midlothian.

Now, according to your article, "Clotheslines Blow Through Culture Again," I find myself on the cutting edge of societal evolution. Wow! Who knew?

Jane T. Kemper.
Farnham.