Calendar Letters: Readers react to Chris Erskine’s column on the death of his son
My copy of The Times arrived wrapped in plastic and dry this sunny Saturday morning but was soaked wet with my tears by the time I finished Chris Erskine’s column about the death of his son [“He Grew Up on These Pages. So Long, Son,” March 15]. Both sad and heartwarming to read. I have no other words.
Michael Barclay
Glendale
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I always look forward to Erskine’s column on Saturday morning. They say a good writer can break your heart with their words, and Chris, my friend, you certainly did that this morning. Wishing you and your family strength in this terrible time, and no, I can’t even imagine. I only wish I had the words to return the favor and brighten your life now.
Mark Richardson
Cardiff, Calif.
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There are no words to comfort you on the loss of your son. I can’t imagine the pain that your family is going through knowing that Chris is gone, but I hope you can find some comfort eventually in the wonderful memories of your lives together. I write this with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. Your loss is devastating, but think of all the love and joy you and your family gave to this wonderful boy during his lifetime. Hopefully, eventually, the pain will diminish some.
Debbie Hooper
Encino
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Splinters of grief tear at my heart. How much must this family have to bear? Honest. Raw. Searingly painful. Achingly loving. Simply beautiful. But wait — in his extraordinary column, Erskine is pulling laughter from my tears? And how does he even find the words to let us know that somehow, they will go on because of us — friends, church members, neighbors, the postman and now, his adoring readers, as well?
Linda Rivlin
Northridge
Not a trace of doubt in mind
Regarding “The Brightest Star” [by Jeffrey Fleishman, March 15]: I had the pleasure of meeting Stephen Hawking as he and I were leaving a restaurant in Cambridge, England, around 1980. He, of course, had no idea who I was, but I was well versed in who he was, as I have always been a student of science, particularly quantum physics and cosmology.
Needless to say, we have lost one of the greatest minds in science (which, BTW, is a word directly translated from the Latin word “scire,” which simply means “to know”). He obviously loved to know things and will certainly be remembered right up there with all of the other greatest men and women who attempted to know the truth: Copernicus, Galileo, Ada Lovelace, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Rosalind Franklin, Richard Feynman, etc. Science is about knowing — or at least attempting to know — the truth about our natural world without subjectivity, without snake oil salesmen, without wishing and hoping. Stephen Hawking exemplified this notion and, given the extraordinarily difficult reality of his physical existence, Stephen Hawking will surely go down in history as one of the greatest knowers that the world has ever seen.
Micky Dolenz
Los Angeles
It’s all up to the nomenclature
The review of the film “7 Days in Entebbe,” based on Israel’s 1976 rescue of 102 passengers who were being held hostage in Entebbe, Uganda [“Negotiations, Maneuvers in a Fine Political Thriller,” March 16], notes that “the nomenclature varies from ‘freedom fighter’ to ‘terrorist’ depending on which side you’re on.”
It bears clarifying that the German and Palestinian hijackers were, objectively, terrorists. The armed perpetrators hijacked an airplane carrying 248 civilians, segregated 94 passengers specifically because they were Jewish (not just Israelis, but also American Jews, Belgian Jews and French Jews) along with the 12-person crew, and released the non-Jewish passengers. They then vowed to kill the 106 remaining hostages. To call these perpetrators anything besides “terrorists” hijacks history itself.
Stephen A. Silver
San Francisco
A big thanks for recommendation
Margaret Gray’s review [“A Class Act Explores the Sex Industry,” March 14] inspired my wife and I to see a performance of Sarah Jones’s one-woman show “Sell/Buy/Date.” Thank you!
Steve Bastow
Santa Monica
New tactic for ‘Love, Simon’
Regarding “Inside Fox’s Strategy to Market ‘Love, Simon’” [by Tre’vell Anderson, March 16]: This was a great change of pace from what we usually hear about LGBT movies. When I first heard that “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda” was being made into a movie, I was afraid that the queerness central to the book would be erased. It seems that studios often try to erase gay themes from advertising in fears of driving people away. I’m proud that Fox Studios is not trying to hide the fact that this romantic comedy centers on a gay teen. I hope this will show that LGBT characters do not need to be hidden away for a movie to be successful.
Gabriella Brandom
Newport Beach
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