Letters to Calendar: A moving tribute to Bob Elliott. And classical music? More, please

A moving tribute to Bob Elliott

Thanks for your Bob Elliott appreciation [“He Left a Mark With a Poker Face,” Feb. 6]. I am 65 and have a tight bond through humor with my 23-year-old daughter. I recently found a site online that allows you to listen to hours of Bob and Ray’s brilliance. I decided to play my daughter the interview with the four-leaf clover farmer who was having a series of catastrophes. It has and always will elicit uncontrollable laughter from me.

Edward Eadon

Valencia

Great piece. I think that a good 40% of my high school conversations consisted of recycled Bob and Ray lines.

Leo Braudy

Los Feliz

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Thank you so much for the heartfelt appreciation in The Times on the passing of Bob Elliott. You really nailed it in terms of speaking for many of us who have been longtime fans of Bob and Ray, in my case since the early ‘60s, when I came across them in Mad Magazine.

Kevin Patrick

Del Mar

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I’m 83, and many memories have slipped away from my shrinking brain, but I retain a sharp sense of driving on a New York highway and hearing a “straight” interview of a man who worked at a toothpick factory. It only slowly dawned on me that this surreal interview was actually a hilarious parody. I then became a constant fan of Bob and Ray.

Richard Ross

Pacific Palisade

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Great send-off. I have a friend who got divorced over Bob and Ray. He insisted on listening to them each evening on KNX, and she hated and found nothing funny in them.

Bennett J. Mintz

Chatsworth

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Enjoyed your column/obituary and, strange to say, laughed out loud.

Berwyn Friedman

Thousand Oaks

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I have been a fan since 1951 — and now I am 85. Thanks for the wonderful column and all of the funny memories it brought back. “A bag of wet mice” to the nice journalist.

Jo Ann Ganz

Los Angeles

Classical music? More, please

I read with enthusiasm the letter sent by Heidi Lesemann [“Feedback: More Classical Music Coverage,” Feb. 7] regarding the lack of coverage in The Times. Not only do I enthusiastically agree, but her opinion is also shared by everyone I know who reads the Calendar section.

Judith Rosen

Encino

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I want to add my voice to those who find the L.A. Times’ coverage of classical music in Los Angeles to be diminishing, in contrast to the growing amount of excellent concerts and composers performing in our town. I thought perhaps I was imagining it, but I am obviously not alone in this. We have great talent and great performances happening. We should be proud and vocal about classical music in our city. We have one of the world’s great orchestras in the L.A. Phil and enormously talented composers and performers in other venues. Let’s not embarrass ourselves. Let us hear about it.

Nita Heimbaugh

Santa Monica

‘Carol’ is good but not a ‘best’

Stephen Farber expressed indignation that “Carol” wasn’t included in the best picture nominations [“Another Oscars Blind Spot,” Feb. 2]. I don’t think the main purpose of the film academy should be to decide whose turn it is to be honored. “Carol” was a good movie, but I’m not sure it’s a great movie.

Ken Hense

El Segundo

Hungry for more ‘Soup’ servings

I must agree with reader Amanda Frost’s letter [“Favorite Comic Strip Is MIA,” Feb 7] (and I hope you’ve received others in agreement as well). I hope The Times will reverse its questionable decision and restore “Stone Soup.”

Tony Gleeson

Los Angeles

Editor’s note: Jan Eliot, the “Stone Soup” artist, has retired.