Compliments to Jack Troy for the interesting and well-written article “Retirees live it up at retired school buildings” (June 1, TribLive). Except for the first paragraph — which is an inappropriate, unnecessary and offensive dig at Catholic education.

I understand an author’s desire to lead into a story with an entertaining anecdote. And I know nothing of the circumstances surrounding Jim Scafuri’s resentful feelings toward his former school, so I would therefore never make any comment or judgment on that particular situation. But that paragraph amounts to the airing of a very personal grievance that has absolutely zero relevance to the article’s topic of developing housing options for the region’s aging population.

Again without knowing any background, I have no position on the merits of Scafuri’s feelings of why leaving his Catholic school was a “welcome reprieve” for him, or why he felt he needed to be “rescued” from the local Catholic school. I’m sorry to hear that and am glad he ended up at a school that was a good fit for him.

But simply as a counterexample, I would offer my own experiences. I am the product of Catholic schools throughout my entire education from kindergarten through college and I was blessed to have that opportunity. And to it and all it taught me — about academics, spirituality and life — I owe all of my personal and professional successes.

Christopher Snodgrass

Swissvale

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