To Be or What... Let Me Tell You a Story By Bennet Pomerantz

To Be or What Let Me Tell You a Story
By Bennet Pomerantz


Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the books that nobody reads. --George Bernard Shaw

We are willing enough to praise freedom when she is safely tucked away in the past and cannot be a nuisance. In the present, amidst dangers whose outcome we cannot foresee, we get nervous about her, and admit censorship. ---E. M. Forster


In a land near, near to all of us called Snyder County, Pennsylvania, there is a teacher. This teacher taught children in her 10th grade classes. She worked teaching children for 33 years. Many, many people considered her a great English teacher.

Now, in her private time, she wrote fantasy and erotic works in novels and short stories. These tales have been published for nine years under the cloak of secrecy. She did this away from her school job and her students. She was discreet about separating her teaching life from writing erotica career . . . even thought she taught the subject of English.

Then two women revealed her secret identity to the world by going on WNEP channel 16 news. Which in turn was picked up by ABC News nationally. They came forward because they felt “Erotica is unethical and totally unacceptable.” to their standards.

I don’t know about you, but what we do in the privacy of our homes and out of the public eye . . . I thought was our own business. These two women tried stop, what the USA is known for, Freedom of Speech. That is like pulling the mask off the Lone Ranger, because he looks like bandit

With their accusations, they try to get her on Misconduct of a teacher. They try to censor her from her first career as a teacher. However, as ignorant and outrageous as these two women were, level heads at the School Board backed the teacher’s right to her dual identity.

Everyone now knows the story of Judy Buranish (AKA Judy Mays) . . . 10th grade English teacher by day, Erotic author for Ellora’s Cave and Changeling Press by night. And a damn good erotica author, I will say!

In a way, this act which these two women try to do over Judy Mays was a nasty form of censorship. YES, Censorship . . . its not just about book burning anymore. It is the rights we have to see something.

Now before you assume this is just about erotic books and authors, It isn’t. What would you say If I told you comic books were also being censored as well as books? You do not believe me...Well I speak the truth, and they are.


The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) has been protecting rights for the last 25 years defended Comic creators, readers, retailers and even libraries from threats from overzealous police, prosecutors and would be censors. You got to remember this is comic books. The stuff you can buy almost everywhere! Batman, Superman, Spider-man, Fritz the Cat and even X-men have been put in censorship situations.

Since we are on the subject of censorship, lets talk about Banned Books. Yes, there are books which are challenged in the USA. Do remember, this is a country that allows FREE SPEECH and all the liberties it entails. There are people that say we don’t censor in the United States–I beg to differ!

Here is a link to all those books that the USA have thought to ban from our library shelves or contested if these belong to be read . . . not just for our young people, but everyone. (http://www.adlerbooks.com/banned.html).

This seem all the time and space I have for censorship 101 blog. Let me get off my soap box today, before I get a nose bleed


Food for Thought


Banned Books
www.adlerbooks.com