From: MPetrelis@aol.com
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 21:39:04 EDT
Subject: Mike Salinas leaving B.A.R. editor's chair


Subj:   Salinas leaving BAR
Date:   99-07-23 19:18:13 EDT
From:   Salinasguy@aol.com
BCC:    M Petrelis

How are Mike Salinas and Hillary Clinton alike? Both are moving to New York 
in hopes of getting a job.

The rumors of my resignation from the B.A.R. are, for once, correct. My last 
day as news editor is Friday, July 23. I've been doing the job for seven 
years -- more than a quarter of the time the paper has existed -- and I feel 
very good about the job I've done. But I also know I have to move on.

I still have a great fondness for San Francisco and the people I know here, 
but the time has come to return to New York and the people I know there. I'm 
looking forward to readjusting to life where there's nothing wrong with 
eating a slice of pizza on the street, people can smoke in bars, "kvetch" is 
a one-syllable word, there are enough taxis to go around, and if you're 
one-in-a-million there are seven more people just like you. I'm tough. I can 
take it.

I've been extremely fortunate in San Francisco, where I was immediately 
welcomed and given a chance to work for the greatest gay paper in the most 
famous gay Mecca in the known universe. Along the way people have been 
(mostly) kind and generous and supportive, and I'm going to miss my extended 
Bay Area family very much. I hope everyone will continue to offer their good 
advice (and occasional contumely [obloquy, animadversion] when I deserve it). 
I'm sure I'll return frequently, seeking aid and comfort and a look at the 
new gay community center. 

But I won't miss the wind by Fox Plaza, the daily newspapers, or the 
mendacity of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. 

Please pass this note around as you see fit. There will be a party in San 
Francisco before I go to New York August 26 and a party in New York after I 
get there. (Even if I have to throw them both myself.) Like a political 
funeral, I expect that at least half of the people at the San Francisco event 
will attend just to make sure the old sonofabitch is gone, which is 
flattering in its own way. Especially for a journalist.

If you want to give, or get, guidance on the parties, e-mail me back.

Mike Salinas
Salinasguy@aol.com