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Too Harsh on Columbia Swimmer by Maxine Frost The Oregonian, July 12, 2003

I look forward to S. Renee Mitchell's column, but I thought she was unjustifiably rough on Christopher Swain ("Media all wet for buying story: hook, line, sinker," July 9, Portland page).

I, too, thought Swain's Columbia River swim nothing more than a stunt until I started reading his online journal, where I learned -- among other things -- that only 38 of every 100 fish survive the series of dams in the river. It was something I hadn't known or even cared about before, and it set me thinking.

Mitchell's attack on Swain for failing to offer solutions to the problems to which he's drawn attention strikes me as naive. It made me think of Voltaire's comment, "Judge of a man by his questions rather than by his answers."

It seems to me that Swain is asking some vitally important questions, and I applaud him for it.