Up in Arms for 'was'!

I keep hearing how 'was' is a bad word in writing. Yet if you pick up any book published within the last year, and I'm talking respected authors!, you'll find the word used over and over again. What gives? Who started this misleading rumour? Sure, any word can be over-used, but in reality, using 'was' often keeps the tempo flowing in a paragragh and saves it from sounding stilted. So I say, three cheers to the word 'was'!!