OBSERVATIONS

Imagine it 13 years of publication! Every time we start a new volume I find myself surprised that TVia is still here. Maybe it would be more correct to say I'm surprised to find myself still here. Not that I expect to die any day, on the contrary I am planning on living to be a 100 IF the civilized world survives that long. This will require another 41 years and I'm even less sure about western civilization than I am about me.

No it isn't my life that surprises me it's that I still keep plugging away at this FP thing. It's rewarding, yes. There are a lot of you out there reading these lines who appreciate my efforts and some of you have been kind enough to write and tell me so. I know myself that my efforts have helped a lot of people to find, understand and accept themselves and not a few wives to come to terms with it too. However there are many others who used to read these pages who don't anymore. They evi- dently either didn't like what they found or felt they had extracted all the value they could from TVia and ceased supporting it. Some objected to the lack of material of various types in it but never bothered to con- tribute anything to improve the content.

Then there are others who enjoy taking pot shots at me from the security of the pages of other publications in which cross dressers of one kind or another can have their various say. I have been sarcastically termed "Glorious Leader", "Fearless Leader", etc. and recently my point of view was referred to as the "Gospel According to St. Prince." I was the helpless recipient of jibe atter jibe by the editors and readers of a now defunct magazine called Turnabout which professed to be a very high toned, intellecutal publication. It lasted just 7 issues and left people all over this country and Europe high and dry with having paid money without getting anything for it. Perhaps a little less attacking atti tude and more helpful and personal feeling toward FPs in general and maybe even me in particular might have given it a longer life.

There are today several other publications in print which also delight in taking both editorial and reader-written jibes at me, at FPE and at TRANSVESTIA. I wonder how long they will last? A magazine can only exist for two reasons, love or money. Since a small one certainly cannot be much of a money maker, it resolves itself into being an activity motivated by love and concern. Maybe that's why TVia and I are still here after 13 years while others have come and gone and still others while not yet gone are constantly struggling to survive. I am not trying to glorify myself or wear a halo but I know the amount of effort and extra-curricular efforts I have put in in the last 13 years and I feel that my readers do too which is why we are still here. I always did say 13 was a lucky number. Virginia

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