Bob Hope’s 7,400 Acres

There is no law that requires elderly wealthy people to convert their bounty into commonweal via philanthropy. But this case of Hope stirs a lot emotions. He is an American icon. He has lived the dream life on the largess of the American people. He has also given back to the people in countless ways, most noticeably in his many USO shows abroad. Maybe his social-duty balance sheet is in the black.

But Hope is emblematic of an America that no longer exists. In the wealthiest nation on earth no one from Hope’s generation likes to be told that issues of justice and morality require self-imposed restraint. The rich just simply cannot keep buying up the West, carving it into developments, and sharing huge profits. Charles Birch’s column of the same day (Op-Ed Page), made it clear that if the whole world lived the way the rich countries do, consuming and polluting at impossible rates, it would be catastrophic for the earth.

Hope doesn’t owe anyone anything. But if he doesn’t see the desperate need to maintain a buffer of open space around Los Angeles, and more importantly, respond with a gift of land to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreational Area, I for one am going to be sorry I ever went to any of his films, or watched any of his numskull TV specials.

Thank for the memories? Thanks for nothing.

STEPHEN PADGETT

North Hollywood