Here's my guilty confession: I don't mind the arguing, or at least so long as it doesn't devolve into name-calling. But I can't take seriously someone who calls other people idiots and their interests perverted and then turns around and complains about "childish bickering." Either you're respectful or you're not.
That said, I have no quarrel with those for whom the music is more important than anything else. I certainly have no quarrel with those who want to prioritize the long-term health of the Bix festival or with those who want to proselytize on behalf of Bix's music. I love his music, too, and I'm always happy to share it with anyone who's interested (and yes, even a few who aren't; I turn it up even louder for them!).
Here's the thing, though: to say, as Mr. Mendham did, "that if it wasn't for the MUSIC Bix created, we wouldn't be having this discussion," is not to say that nothing else is worth talking about. Without Bix's music, there wouldn't have been the Romantic legend -- but I would argue that without the legend, without the Bix Beiderbecke as remembered by Otis Ferguson and Dorothy Baker and Mezz Mezzrow and Hoagy Carmichael and Ralph Berton and (as Jamaica reminded us) Frederick Turner, without the Bix Beiderbecke whose legend is for some so seductive and others so frustrating, without all the arguments that follow and the passion that invariably attends them, well, I'm not sure we would be having this discussion, either.
Some people here might agree with me but find such a state of affairs infuriating. Others might just vigorously disagree, and I'm happy to have that discussion. But I think I approach the whole issue differently from Mr. Mendham and others. Like I said, Bix is not my hero and he's my cause. I don't have a personal investment in him. I don't feel any need to defend him or his music, and I certainly don't put myself in his shoes, imagining if I were the subject of a forum like this one.
Aside from being a writer and an editor, I work as an historian. Bix is an historical figure, which means he gets talked about in all sorts of ways. And because he's dead, I'm not worried about what he would think.
Like I said, others feel differently. In my book, I argue that this personal investment can sometimes be silly, but I don't think I go so far as to say that such people are idiots. I'll reread and double-check.