A YEAR OF THE CONSCIENCE

What a year, eh?

Even the Letters Page proved it had a social conscience in ’85. We raised $250 for Live Aid (thanks mostly to Sharon Frutos and Mrs. Tom Petty, who waged a successful campaign to get Mr. Tom Petty to shave off his superfurry sideburns). We appealed to the masses for fresh ideas to help save the TV networks (and then printed scads of letters but, alas, nothing changed). We helped, sort of, to find a lost dog (Paolo the Wonderdog, who had earlier achieved Letters Page immortality when we ran actual photos of him fetching a Sunday L.A. Times without getting a hernia). We even invented the Imperfections box so we could correct our Calendar sins, journalistic and otherwise.

Most of the biggest issues of the year--the cultural boycott of South Africa, the alleged racism in “Year of the Dragaon,” what to do with Madonna, etc.--were reflected on this page, but others--like the weekly whereabouts of the Book Section--were born and buried here. Our Calendar cover of little E.T. as a movie mogul with drug paraphernalia around his neck outraged our corner of the Western World and brought us more mail than any article all year--46 letters, with 35 more or less mad at us.

About 750 folks earned their way onto this page or the Letters Annex in ’85. About 5,000 tried.

Cher didn’t write us in ‘85, but U.S.A. for Africa’s Ken Kragen did (twice) and so did “The Day After’s” director Nicholas Meyer. Unbelievably, Dianne Bennett of the Hollywood Reporter, jazz impresario Norman Granz and “Like a Virgin” co-writer Billy Steinberg all appeared on the same day.

Celebrity or no, however, we lean toward the snappy, the crackly and the poppy among you, and we obviously greatly encourage snipers and provacateurs. But we like to think we reward the witty, the sarcastic and the snide without shortchanging the thoughtful, the interesting and the wronged--who can be anything from a gerbil denied immigration into California to an especially rabid fan of Barbra Streisand.

In any case, support your First Amendment. Please keep letters brief and, as always, include full name, address and phone number. Mail to Calendar Letters, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053.