I was recently the victim of a vindictive newsletter publisher that attempted to tarnish my good name and reputation.

I am the volunteer director of a very large 5k road race that benefits my town's recreation department. As part of that effort I have to advertise the registration information for the race. One way I chose to do this was by placing an ad in the Jersey Shore Running Club newsletter, which has a wide circulation.

I sent my ad in 5 days prior to the deadline for publishing and was told by the woman who publishes the newsletter that she hoped it would appear to my satisfaction. Her name is Barbara Hay of Hayseeds Design, www.hayseedsdesign.com 732 517-1564. She supposedly designs websites and advertising for a living although her own website contains several spelling and grammatical errors.

My ad appeared in the next addition of the newsletter and was completely butchered - cut off around all of the edges so badly that you couldn't read the name of the race, nor would you be able to use the registration form because the signature line was cut off. I sent her an e-mail to let her know that I was not satisfied and she sent back a response blaming me for sending the ad late (which it was not) and in the wrong format. I then sent her another furious reply in which I explained that she was the so-called publishing professional and should have told me the format was wrong or fixed it. I would have rather she told me she couldn't publish what I had sent her than put in a schlock representation of what many volunteers have worked to make into a great event.

Rather than apologize or end the dispute there she chose to selectively edit and publish my confidential e-mail to her in the running club newsletter - an attempt to make the readers think I was harshly criticizing her for no good reason, I suppose. I am now seeking legal recourse for slander and breach of privacy.