An ego-boosting letter from a reader

They say March marches in like a lion but goes out like a lamb. And as I begin the month, I would like to salute a young man who handed me the below letter at Kapsabet last Saturday by way of appreciation at how much he has liked ‘Men Only’ in the decade it’s been here.

Dear Tony M,

I have been reading your article ever since the days of Woman’s Instinct and Men Only has been my favourite piece in the Eve Woman magazine.

I never got to read you way back in the days of Man Talk before Oyunga (Pala) (now on Crazy Monday but I like the verve and humour you have always brought to your space on Saturdays. The open letter you wrote to your departed mother on her anniversary moved me, and I bet many other souls, deeply.

Your recent tribute to Fidel Castro, listing the ten traits a man should strive to have, seemed as if you were speaking to me as a man. I still have that particular article. And, yeah, I did not know his middle name was Alejandro (like a tele-novella or a Lady Gaga song, you said).

Your most controversial article for me was a long time ago when you wrote about Joshua and so many of those Jewish leaders in the Bible as genocidal fellows, with their mass killing of Amalekites and other tribes of Canaan like Edom and Moab. I also recall, almost a decade ago, when you printed an excerpt of your book Road to Eldoret on your page to warn about the PEV. I sure hope we will have a peaceful election in five months time. Do you think we will? You also write about fatherhood and mention your daughter Chelsea Chechislavia Nyamvula very tenderly.

Were you for Hillary (Clinton) because she has a daughter named Chelsea? Well, she lost to Donald Trump who is making America great again – so accept and move on. Your dreaming about Chelsea football club and spending every Saturday evening cheering them on TV from some soccer dens is highly misplaced. You should save that energy for your village team, Shabana. Or even Hull City because they, at least, have a local sponsor in the form of SportPesa, which is also a big advertiser for your paper.

Keep the power of your pen going strong!

Ngugi (wa Thiongo) and Koigi Wamwere, real men, were detained at gunpoint because of the power of the pen! The pen wields a lot of power. Your Men Only has the power to change, transform and inspire – and, as you can see, I have been your reader for long and I can even remember a piece here and there that you penned ten years ago. Is that not power?

I also have laughed in the past when you make fun of the oddities of your upstairs neighbour, Beryl, and she also pours cold water on you in your flat downstairs. What happened to those Forward Travellers’ she used to talk about all the time, or she discovered the power of boda bodas? With the power of your pen, keep going forward to greater heights. And remember never to end with a whimper.

Your number one fan,

Samuel Dzombo