It was 140 articles ago that I took on this assignment for a biweekly article. Publisher Robin Martin graciously saw the potential benefit of continuing to have a local voice from the right to express a viewpoint not necessarily otherwise presented in her newspaper. She has been supportive and apparently satisfied to let me operate on a long leash expressing points of view with which she most likely frequently has disagreed.

In turn, Bill Waters, the gentleman in charge of the editorial section of The New Mexican, was a superb mentor under which this would-be columnist strived to satisfy. Bill and I had many different slants on the world around us, as well as surprisingly frequent agreements, but not once in 138 articles did he feel it necessary to either correct, admonish, edit or censor my efforts. We had many enjoyable exchanges, and I can rightfully say that the opportunity to appear in his section of the paper was an honor and a pleasure beyond anything I could have anticipated.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and as we all know, Bill has retired from the daily delights and responsibilities of producing editorial material for the consumption of this predominantly Democratic community. We now have a new editor who is undertaking the pleasures and the agonies of fulfilling the demanding responsibilities of the editorial section of the paper.

When a new person moves into a major assignment, he or she has the right, even the responsibility, to run the operation under whatever rules and procedures will produce the desired results for which he or she has taken charge. In this case such became evident with my most recent submission when the editor felt it necessary to add a disclaimer to my article, in her, not my words, change the headline, and alter several words or constructions. She further suggested definition for topics that I should avoid.

For me personally, this is a totally unacceptable modus operandi to work under. My articles may not always be as clear or well ordered as might be desired, but they have always been 100 percent mine, good, bad or indifferent. My readers (which do include more than just my family) could know that they were my words and my sentiments. No one else's. And the abuse that came from such by those who disagreed and attacked the messenger and not the message, fell squarely on my back with little left for the editorial staff who generously allowed me to sink or swim on my own. This was appropriate, as I liked it, and as it should be.

So with much regret, this will be farewell to those wonderful friends who enjoyed my biases and to those on the other side who had the pleasure of responding in the negative. I hold no grudge whatsoever against the new editor. It is appropriately her and management's decision to include or exclude the columnists she wants as well as to perform whatever controls she deems necessary and provide whatever guidelines she believes are required.

As a strong proponent of the incredible freedoms all of us enjoy in this miraculous country in which we live, I am 100 percent unwilling to give up any of my freedoms of expression or my desire to write about any topic that is important to me and which I believe should be of importance to my readership. It is the slow and insidious invasion of these rights (and many others for that matter) that can jeopardize American exceptionalism. It always starts small and then increasingly the bites take ever bigger hunks out of the body and soul of our unique heritage. I refuse to be a party to such.

My heartfelt thanks go to Robin Martin and Bill Waters for allowing this amateur to participate for the past over five years in their newspaper. And my equally great thanks to those many of you who have supported me with your kind words. It has been a challenge and a rewarding opportunity.

Santa Fean Gregg Bemis is an industrialist/adventurer and concerned senior citizen.