Lawrence M. Fischbach

Published online on Sunday, Sep. 21, 2008

Age: 78

Occupation: Retired high school teacher, department chairman and school district consultant.

Hobbies: Travel, hiking, bicycling, art viewing and collecting, Sunday painting, reading and writing (Fig Garden Poets).

How many letters: 32 since 1989.

Favorite topics: Public policies and issues from the "war on drugs" to the war in Iraq and the industrial military complex to same-sex marriage.

Why do you write? To influence other readers, engage in the great debates of our democracy and to see my name in print, of course.

Excerpt from recent letter: "I am a property owner in the Fresno County Fire Protection District, and I will be voting 'yes' on the fire suppression measure. The measure will benefit us all by reducing 9-1-1 response times and purchasing much-needed equipment for firefighters. It will also staff three new fire stations that are sorely needed in the district."

Reaction to letters: Not enough! But once I received an offer to subscribe to "The Socialist Worker."

Topic that doesn't get enough attention: Tax reform and tax equity, including who really pays the most in taxes as a percentage of disposable income, namely the hard-working, disappearing middle class.

Education: Fresno public schools, Fresno High School class of '48, Stanford University, B.A., M.A. Graduate study: University of Grenada, Spain; N.I.H. Grant 1984.

Family: Confirmed bachelor, member of large early-day Fresno families. Numerous "children," many hundreds of former students.

Political philosophy: New Deal Democrat, more pragmatic than ideological. Democracy should be economic as well as social and political. There should be no "working poor" in our rich country.

-- Compiled by Pam Rowse