Outsized Appetite

In reference to the Sept. 17 letters headlined, “For Some, Schwarzenegger Comes Across as a Barbarian,” I have a few comments.

Arnold’s moments of excess, arrogance and insensitivity are news; our “moments” aren’t.

During the 1960s and 1970s, I spent a lot of leisure time in Santa Monica. I often observed the massive figure of Arnold in Santa Monica gyms, restaurants and coffeeshops. He came across as a basically likeable, gentle, fun-loving and decent person. From others who knew him I learned that he’s also shrewd, ambitious, very intelligent and generous. A Rabelaisian man with an outsize appetite for life.

Why are there so many readers eager to shoot him down? I can’t truly know their mind. “Some people make themselves tall by cutting others’ heads off.” Whatever character flaws an overachiever (like Arnold) might possess can’t begin to equal the soul-withering and mind-shriveling envy boiling within these very little Salieris.

PHILIP CAVAGNARO

San Bernardino