Gypsy Society’s Disentanglement

I want to thank Paul Dean for his in-depth coverage of the Gypsy rights movement (“Gypsies Are Banding Together to Fight Age-Old Stereotypes,” Oct. 5). Gypsy culture is a complex topic, and he was able to sort out the truth from fiction fairly well as far as the Gypsy rights movement is concerned.

One mistake I would like to point out: The Gypsy Lore Society, North American Chapter, has not formed an anti-defamation league. One of the chapter members, Dr. William Lockwood of the University of Michigan, has formed this league on behalf of the Rom, and announced its formation in the newsletter of the Gypsy Lore Society. Otherwise, there is no connection.

This may seem a minor point from your perspective. However, the society and chapter represent the interests of Gypsy studies and try as much as possible to avoid entanglement in Gypsy politics.

DAVID JIM NEMETH

Mt. Pleasant, Mich.