Letter From the Editor

By now I'm sure you are wondering what has happened to me and the magazine. About three or four months ago I began to feel over tired and did not have the energy to work on the magazine. Three weeks ago I went to my doctor to find out what was wrong. It turns out that I have Type II Diabetes. My blood sugar was 500 when it was checked at the doctor's. Now with three weeks of medication and correct diet my blood sugar is in the range that my doctor wants it. With continued medication, diet, and exercise I will be able to control it. Each day I feel a little better and have a little more energy. I am sorry for the delay in the magazine but hope I will be able to provide you with some interesting and informative articles in the next three issues of Slingshot the Magazine.

Several interesting things have happened in the past few months that I never thought about when I started this magazine. I will share them with you and perhaps you might be able to increase your enjoyment of our sport through one or more of them. This might even spark an idea or two from some of the subscribers to the magazine.

I have been buying and selling slingshots on the ebay auction. I have added several new slingshots to my collection through this auction. I have been amazed and shocked at the prices some slingshots have sold for on ebay. Several contacts have been made with new people who are interested in the sport of catapultry and slingshots. I have made the acquaintance of several people who are collecting slingshots through the ebay auction.

Finding others who are collecting slingshots is a unexpected pleasure. I really didn't think that there would be very many people that were collecting slingshots. I have found a couple of very serious collectors and I hope to be able to share information about them and their collection in Slingshot the Magazine.

This magazine is also locating people who want to hold slingshot tournaments. At the present time there are 3 individuals that are interested in having a slingshot tournament in their areas. The states are Louisiana, Arkansas, and Georgia. I will be planning and setting a date for the Summer National Slingshot Tournament in the next few months. I am also hoping that the Multi-Lakes Tournament will be held again in the year 2000. It looks like the new millennium will be a great year for slingshots. I guess the Y in Y2K is a slingshot!

I received a very unusual email a couple of weeks ago. It involved a disagreement among fans of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". It seems that one of the characters in the movie is wearing an object around his neck that could be either a wrench or a slingshot. A picture of the object was included in the email and it turns out to be the Milbro slingshot from England. Since I have a couple of them in my collection I was able to tell them that "Eddie" was wearing a slingshot around his neck. Even with my input there is still some doubt that it is a slingshot. I have included some of the emails I received from the fans and a couple of pictures in the Letters to the Editor column.

Since last summer Ivan Glenn has been making slingshots at a rapid pace. In the past Ivan made slingshots for himself, family, and friends and was mainly concerned with how well they shot. Recently he has become interested in making slingshots that are also works of art and superbly handcrafted. I have listed several of his slingshots on ebay and will be offering more of his fine craftsmanship on ebay. Please check ebay and elsewhere in the issues of Slingshot the Magazine for examples of his work. If you are interested in obtaining a fine handcrafted and excellent shooting slingshot made by Ivan you can contact him directly. Look under Slingshots Unlimited for his address and phone number.

From this issue's cover you can see that there will be a fantastic trophy for a top shooter at the Summer Nationals Slingshot Tournament at this years event. This trophy was made and donated by John Cryderman of Chatham, Ontario.  John is really interested in slingshots and the sport of catapultry. He has designed some fantastic slingshots. He is also the designer and handcrafter of a line of unbelievable boomerangs. At the present time he is writing a book on slingshots entitled, "Your Guide to Slingshots". John has several web sites and I think you would enjoy checking them out. My two favorites are www.slingshots.org and www.boomerangs.com . You can email him at john@slingshots.org .