Big Apple Scorecard (NO APOLOGY NO ACCEPTED!)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

    William Safire--what a piece of garbage!
    Eight years I wait for this?
    There's no mention of Safire's not meeting Charles Gillett and me eight years ago?  No mention of the NY Times lying on Gillett's obituary and stating that "the Big Apple" comes from Damon Runyon?
    No mention that I went before the entire city council and the mayor and dedicated Big Apple Corner?  No mention that such people as Shirley Povich ARE NOW DEAD!
    I CAN'T EVEN DEFEND MYSELF BECAUSE MY WITNESSES ARE NOW DEAD!
    DIDN'T I TELL WILLIAM SAFIRE THAT I LOOKED THROUGH EVERY PIECE OF WRITING BY ED MARTIN, AND THAT MARTIN _ALWAYS_ CALLED NEW YORK CITY "GOTHAM"?  DID SAFIRE THINK I MISSED SOMETHING?  WHO COINS A TERM AND _NEVER_ USES IT?
    DIDN'T I SAY THAT ALL OF HIS CONTEMPORARY WRITERS--ON _LIFE_ MAGAZINE, FOR EXAMPLE--ALSO _NEVER_ USED "THE BIG APPLE"?
    There is no "controversy" at all.  If John J. Fitz Gerald had never lived, no one would be calling New York City "the Big Apple."  HIS EXACT, FULL WORDS HAVE STILL NEVER MADE THE NEW YORK TIMES!!  THIS IS A DISGRACE!
    I thank former assistant Kathleen Miller for bringing "the Big Apple" to the Great Man's attention, but if he's going to murder my work like this, he might as well retire.