I just got a wee pre-printed postcard from somewhere I had never heard of:

the Village of Gambier, Ohio. The

card said I owed them taxes, and I better pay up or dire things will happen

to me.

I called the phone number they gave to ask what this was all about. Turns

out that the Village of Gambia includes Kenyon College, where I gave a talk

last year for the usual modest honorarium. And the Village of Gambier

believes they have the right to collect taxes from me on this.

Do they? Call me naive (Derb, you are WAY naive) but I never heard of this

before. I mean, federal and state taxes, sure; New York City taxes, OK

(it’s a big place), but **village taxes**? How many people are there in the

Village of Gambier, I asked the tax lady (who sounded very pleasant).

Answer: Not counting students, around 360-400.

Question: If every jurisdiction of 360-400 souls in the USA has a claim on

my income, should I just stop working right now? Or resign the rest of my

life to filling out tax forms?

My mood at the moment is, that the Village of Gambier (I have to keep

correcting myself for having written “Gambia” –

This is all so… **Third World**) can kiss my honorarium. However, I await

input from knowledgable readers.