Rose Parade Crowd Figures
The Times published a letter of mine (Dec. 31), which commented on your obviously exaggerated report of the size of the Doo-Dah Parade crowd in Pasadena. I stated that I would look forward to reading on Jan. 2 an objective and (hopefully) accurate report of the true size of the perennial “throng of 1 million spectators” at the Rose Parade in Pasadena. Unfortunately I was disappointed once again.
However, my hopes were renewed by what appeared to be at least a hint of skepticism on the part of staff writer Scott Harris, when he referred to the count as “the unvarying estimate of Pasadena police . . . give or take a few hundred thousand.”
I freely admit I could be dead wrong. Maybe there really are 1 million people at the Rose Parade. I have no way of knowing because there seem to be few persons interested in finding out. What I am sure of is that The Times and every television news team in Los Angeles, and in turn every news-giver across the entire nation, reports only the publicity statements of the notoriously commercially oriented City of Pasadena.
On the other hand, perhaps you consider yourselves in the entertainment business, in which case I give you my congratulations on a fantastic success. I laugh it up every year.
CHRISTOPHER LEE
Pasadena
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