Dear Readers,
I would love to get your “two cents.”
It was about three months ago that I tiptoed, with uncertainty and a bit of trepidation, into a new chapter of my life.
It was December of last year, and I was still working with my dear friend and collaborator Dan Rather on Steady, the newsletter we had started together three years earlier.
After long reflections, and many conversations with Dan, I decided that it was time for me to explore my own voice as a writer. So I started this effort — Through the Fog — to which you have kindly found your way as readers and supporters.
I titled my first post “A Beginning” because that is certainly how it felt. I didn’t publicize it much and many of the early readers were family members and friends. But in the ensuing months, it has grown beyond anything I could have expected. Now when I press publish on a new piece, more than 6,000 emails go out. It astounds me and I like to think most of them are not Russian bots.
I thank both Dan Rather and Robert Reich, two men I admire (and not only for the impressive readership numbers on their Substacks) for listing my newsletter as one of their recommended publications.
But most of all I thank all of you who have joined this community. As I wrote in my first post, “I love writing, but I love conversation more. And that is what I hope we can have here.” Because of all of you, we have already accomplished this at a level I could not have imagined.
And this makes me all the more excited about the future. I think back to another idea I expressed in my first post, the uncertainty that comes with starting something new:
One thing I learned with Steady is that newsletters are, at their best, dynamic. They start one place and go somewhere else. They evolve, along with a community. Writing one is sort of like being a parent: you help put something into the world and then watch in awe and wonder as it takes on a life of its own.
I didn’t know where Through the Fog would go when I started it, and I still don’t. And that, for me, is a big part of the joy of sharing it with you. I love reading the comments and hearing from you in emails. It helps me process how my writing is being received and shapes ideas I want to contemplate for future posts.
So again, my deepest gratitude. And I want to give a special thanks to those of you who have signed up as paying members. My intention is to keep most of what I do here free and open to all. And this support allows me to consider what other help I now might be able to add to this effort.
What I would like most of all, however, is feedback. I am not surprised that some of the politically-minded articles get the most response from you, the readers. But I also love how you have embraced my writings on science, the arts, and personal reflections.
I suppose my biggest question is, how do you think it is going? And by extension, what do you like, not like as much, and wish to see more of? Are there any specific topics you would like me to consider? Stay away from?
I hope you feel this is a place where you are comfortable expressing your thoughts and engaging with others. It can be a foggy world out there. That makes it all the more important to have friends to hold on to as we walk through it.
It helps us make sense of things that would otherwise be “mist.” (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.)
Again, my deepest thanks.
Elliot
Wow. I am humbled by all your comments and support. I will try to respond to you in more detail when I have time. But I also should have added that for those of you who are new here and may be interested in reading older posts, you can find the entire archive of 38 posts (and counting) here: https://elliotkirschner.substack.com/archive
“But I also love how you have embraced my writings on science, the arts, and personal reflections.” I am in the part of your readership most interested in science, the arts, and personal reflections. I share your political leanings, but occasional respite from the current craziness is helpful to the task of surviving it.