To keep the peace on this mailing list, and due to the fact that I believe we 
have gone past the stage of meaningful dialogue and because I don't believe 
that any new ground will be covered, I suggest that we reach a compromise and 
then mutually drop the issue (if nowhere else, then on this mailing list).

I believe that we all agree that tone and background research can both add or 
detract from a story depending on how both are used.  Changing the tone, or 
histories, or viewpoints, or relationships between characters can be done, but 
for SOME people it may prevent them from fully enjoying the story.

I will not rewrite the pertinent sections of the "So You Wanna Write...", 
mainly because I want to move on, but also because I'm not archiving the 
thing.  If readers were interested in the subject, I believe that they would 
have kept a log of arguments for both sides of the issue and made a decision 
for themselves.

And I believe that writers must come to the point of being able to say to 
themselves (ala Feynman)  "What Do You Care What Other People Think?" 
(actually, I think this is going to be one of the later topics).

JK