Mailbag Can Be Real Grab Bag of Brickbats and Bravos
Miss Klein:
Why is your picture in the paper with your articles? I have never seen Jack Smith, etc., etc. It is tiring.
Dorothy Summers
Orange
Dear Miss Summers:
True, Jack Smith’s picture doesn’t run with his column anymore. Maybe we could run Jack’s mug over my column? That might break the monotony for you. As for the etc., etc., several of them do have their pictures in the paper. In the meantime, try to get some rest.
Dianne Klien (sic):
Bravo Dianne! Continued attempts at sexual one-upmanship, such as in your article (May 2), effectively serve to agitate the resentment that is unfortunately, though understandably, present within many men and women; this, thereby, increases disharmony between many men and women and, in turn, continues the need for separate men’s and women’s studies. Given the size of your readership, it appears you have now successfully become a relatively high-ranking administrator within the societal administration that actively supports and encourages this particular academic curriculum! (What about giving combined gender studies programs a chance?)
Sincerely,
Michael J. Parra
Huntington Beach
Dear Mike:
You mean I agitated your resentment? Sorry. I promise to turn myself in to those higher up within the societal administration. Or maybe I’m not understanding you, unfortunately. As for combined gender studies, I don’t know. Would you be in the classroom too?
Dear Dianne:
I received the paper and the article on Smokey. I enjoyed reading it. I wish I had the gift to write like you, but I thank the Lord for what I have. . . . Smokey is fine and eating very good. I was afraid to let her out when she asked, but I wouldn’t have needed to be. . . . I thank you again and wish everyone could be as lucky as I
was to get a pet back.
Best wishes,
Ethel Pleiman
Fox Lake, Ill.
Dear Ethel:
And thank you for your card. Smokey is indeed a lucky cat. You’re a great mother.
Dear ? Ms. Klein:
I don’t belong to Dr. Schuller’s church, but I happen to know he does an awful lot of good for a lot of people. More than you do certainly!
Here’s another radical idea for you: Go dunk your head in the toilet three times and pull it out twice . Better idea!
Re: May 23 column
Dear Re:
I hate to address you this way. It seems so impersonal in response to the intimate tone of your letter. But don’t worry. Even though your note was unsigned, I know who you are. So do the police.
Dear Dianne:
Read your baseball column and thought we’d used Earth Day 1990 to clean up a little. Sure, you have the right to dislike (hate?) baseball. However, before you write about it, try to remember what that old baseball fan, Goethe, once said: “Nothing is more terrible than active ignorance.”
“Blather” about spring? “Polluting the ozone layer”? “5% action, 95% talk”?
We realize baseball may seem a little slow to someone who finds MTV exciting, but it most decidedly is not. It is a thinking person’s game. It’s a book, not a movie. You can passively watch a movie, but to enjoy a book, you must first learn to read. . . .
Don’t get us wrong. We’re not trying to sell you on baseball, Dianne. We’re just trying to explain something that seems to have sped past you like a hot new “Beamer.”
As for your attempt to paraphrase Jim Murray, we happily note that Jimbo just won himself a Pulitzer Prize. Perhaps one day your writing will win you a pat on the fanny from your husband. Hopefully, far away from us.
Your pals,
Ed Honeck and Steve Orth
Orange
Dear Ed and Steve,
Too bad I missed you at the game. You sound sweet. I want you to know that I appreciate your letter. I try to appeal to many different kinds of readers, of all ages. Make sure to keep reading the newspaper! Even if you can’t understand everything that you read.
Dear Dianne:
This morning I received a complimentary copy of The Times Orange County Edition and happened to see your column “On Smoking Ads and Medflies, Etc.” I have never written a columnist or staff writer before, but I enjoyed your style so much I wanted to take time out from my day to tell you so. . . .
Regards,
James L. Sharrock
Trabuco Canyon
Dear Jim,
Thanks.
Dianne Klein’s column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Klein by writing to her at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626, or calling (714) 966-7406.
