Whatever possessed the Bangor Daily News to commemorate the unspeakably tragic hunting fatality of 1988?

How could the BDN be so insensitive as to rake up the Wood family’s tragedy in such graphic and awful detail, and to further punish Donald Rogerson, a good family man who still lives in the area and exists every day of life – especially in November, I’m sure – with the knowledge of that terrible event? An event that seems a “perfect storm” of circumstances: Karen Wood, a newcomer to the state had apparently not been warned of the danger of living close to the woods and that it would be advisable to wear a hunter orange cap or vest (and certainly nothing white) even in her own backyard during the month of November; add to the mix a veteran hunter hot on the track of a deer who suddenly sees a flash of white and reacts in a split second to make the worst and most tragic decision of his life. Who was at fault? Both people made undeniable mistakes; a good woman is dead and a good man haunted for life.

Laws have been passed that have all but stamped out hunting fatalities in Maine. If there is any good to be had, I’d like to think it would move the town of Hermon, and other communities, to enact laws regarding hunting proximity to rural subdivisions or a shotguns-only restriction in those areas.

Though the grief will always be there, the Wood family has moved on, and so has the Rogerson family. Too bad the BDN hasn’t.

Thelma H. White

Sorrento