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Letter: Mick vs. the colonel: the rest of the story

Dear Princess,

I am Allen Mayfield, whom you mentioned in your recent article “The hits keep coming” (Alison Berkley Margo, Commentary, Aug. 6, The Aspen Times). I would like to get a few facts straight for you in regard to your article as well as what The Aspen Times has printed regarding this incident. Here are the facts:

1. I do not now, nor did I then, know who Mick Ireland was. He was nothing more than a foul-languaged man who was degrading a woman who was in our group of people at the picnic.



2. I want you to be very clear on what I mean by degrading. Mick was calling her, Mary Messner, names such as wh—, sl–, bit– and more.

3. This woman, Mary, was doing nothing more than sitting at the picnic, visiting with friends, when he approached, embarrassing her and offending the rest of us with his choice of trashy names.




4. The articles in The Aspen Times as well as the article that you wrote mention, and even imply, that this was a conflict over the museum. I do not live in Aspen, and I am not aware of the current conflict, nor of the museum being built. In short, I know nothing of the business of this museum, the hard feelings, the politics or the drama. Nor do I even care. I do not know how or why this conflict with the museum was even brought into the incident that happened between Mick and myself.

5. And finally, I would like for the nuts and bolts of the incident between Mick to come down to the simple fact that he was publicly degrading a woman. He was uninvited to this party and was behaving poorly. I escorted him away from the woman and the park in hopes that he would leave.

In closing, since this incident and the subsequent publicity, I am now aware of who Mick is as well as his reputation for being a troublemaker and also of the conflict of the museum. I enjoy your article — in fact, I am a fan of your column. I understand that it is important for every writer to base their editorial on facts, and I know that you are a woman of dignity and will appreciate the facts of this incident.

Allen Mayfield

Retired Colonel U.S. Air Force

Carbondale