Who Are You

I think this magazine’s demographic seems inconsistent for the reason that one month you have an aged Fidel Castro [on the cover] and the next month you have a 30-something year old Tiger Woods. I can’t differentiate if you are targeting golfers or informed TIME magazine readers. You are trying to cover such a vast amount that one cannot find a solid identity from month to month. This makes it hard for potential readers and subscribers because your niche publication is not reaching out to any particular niche.

E.C.

New Jersey

I hesitate to pass judgments on The Green Magazine after reading only one issue (Vol. II, Issue 6). In considering my opinions, therefore, it is important to be aware of this serious limitation. The publication attempts to fill a void that exists in the minority golfing community. Though it provides readers with more or less standard information available in most mainstream golf periodicals such as instructional tips, new equipment, course design, and profiles of golfing luminaries, it also provides a wide range of well-written perspectives on such diverse, non-golfing topics as literature, art, drama engineering and cuisine. But this approach is the basis for one of the magazine’s shortcomings. It tries to cover too much territory in a single issue and thereby lacks a sense of cohesion or focus. Its other unredeeming feature stems from a stated goal to "represent the good life well lived for people of every color." With a slick format, extravagant personal possessions (expensive watches, private jet planes, high-powered automobiles, etc.), the magazine unfortunately tends to become another tasteless display of pretense, vulgar acquisitiveness, and snobbery. For my satisfaction, The Green Magazine can and must do better to fulfill its potential.

Calvin H. Sinnette, M.D.

Arlington, VA

I have been reading your magazine for only a few months now, and I have enjoyed the majority of your content. Finally a forum has been opened for people of color who take pleasure in the game of golf and all that it has to offer. However, I was disappointed in a recent piece—your holiday gift section ["Cadeaux Divins," December 2005/ January 2006]. It was not that the story was poorly written or not informative; I was surprised to see that you and your staff seem to equate money with happiness. You assume that the best gifts are the ones that cost the most money! Surely you can agree that this is not the case. Rather than peddling a number of radically opulent, unnecessary toys why not suggest the idea of making a gift by hand or of coming up with something thoughtful—something truly unique to your own partner. A car for $600,000? A phone for $18,000? Is that really what the holidays areall about? I don't think so. In this same issue, your publisher Rafael Martinez wrote a wonderful note, commenting on how much he loves the holiday season because it's a time to reflect on the joys of family and friends. He talks about how thankfulhe is for all the wonderful people—not things—in his life. Well if that's the truth, then why stress such importance on the material aspect of Christmas? I was sad to see that he and his staff do not practice what they preach.

Donald M. Day

New York, NY