GARY COLEMAN

I am a former child star. Uniquely grotesque as it seems, the smashing of the Coleman family’s gold-plated communal bowl is only one more in a long train of similar tragedies to befall child stars. The saddest part is that all these weful endings were as predictable as any seasonal hurricane zeroing in on the Texas Gulf. Reversing roles of dependent and providfer leads to almost certain disaster for all concerned. But as long as the performing child’s salary continues to shower money on the family, the persons most responsible--adults who should be in charge--ignore the storm warnings until it’s too late.Adults are meant to care for small children, not the other way around. “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature!” the margarine TV commercial proclaimed. Let the greedy parents of today’s budding child stars read their own future and take heed.

DIANA SERRA CARY

Carlsbad