Editor, Times-Union: Libelous: Printed information, whether true or false, that harms, with malice intent, the character or reputation of another. (dictionary.com) I am not judging the intentions behind all the information that was submitted to the Times-Union, which hit the front page on June 27, with a follow-up, front-page sequel on the 30th. Even so, intentions are questionable against a back drop of personal differences.
For the past 15 years Brent Wilcoxson has been the man, more than any other, getting so much of the credit for Winona’s successful renovation, and rightfully so. Harvey Firestone, who made tires for Hennery Ford, once said, “Capital is not always the most valuable contribution that one can bring to an enterprise. There are many sources for capital. The more rare and valuable entities are ideas, vision and know-how. Thought, not money, is the real business capital.” This is what Wilcoxson brought to the Winona Restoration partnership, campaigning long and hard, in the early days, to enlighten reluctant investors, who were slow to catch the vision. Without Brent, the historic Winona grounds, we all enjoy today, would never have found its way back, and MasterWorks would never have found Winona.
This front-page story is discrediting but, ironically, not as much to the one intended, as to the paper on which it was published and to the plaintiff who backed it. There are ways to settle disputes without public, hurtful exposure, which I have learned from my own mistakes. Oh, that we might learn the higher value of grace, over “winning” and the greater victory it promises.
