Few Incensed by Story on Captain Ed’s Joint
“We’re going to get letters on this one,” my editor said, sounding a bit worried.
Oh yes, I said, we certainly would. But we like letters, don’t we?
The column, published a few weeks ago, concerned the 30th anniversary of Captain Ed’s H & H Shoppe in Van Nuys, a business that claims to be America’s oldest head shop in a continuing location, a place where old hippies from the ‘60s, yuppies from the ‘70s and ‘80s and teenagers of the ‘90s purchase water pipes and other avant-garde smoking paraphernalia. These unconventional devices, according to Captain Ed’s staff, should be used only for smoking tobacco. (Wink wink, nudge nudge.)
“How dare you give free publicity to a business that encourages the use of narcotics!” outraged readers would surely reply. There would be letters expressing “disappointment” in the choice of subject matter. Maybe a nearby resident would dish some dirt. If I was lucky, I figured, maybe Nancy Reagan herself would urge me to just say no to such story ideas.
I have to admit, I had some misgivings of my own, being a more or less responsible adult. Those qualms were canceled out by the recognition that Captain Ed’s survival after all these years says something about our times. And hadn’t California voters recently approved the medicinal use of marijuana?
A letter poured in. Then another. And another.
And they all seemed to appreciate the story.
The most negative comment came from a reader who informed me that the shop actually was opened by a pair of Vietnam veterans before it was purchased by the current owners. The most positive came from a Santa Clarita woman fondly recalling a long-ago romance with the late Captain Ed Adair himself. She signed it, “Keep on truckin’.”
And Michael J. Herman of Calabasas said that, though he had “never been one to visit head shops, nor indulge in their specialty,” the description of old rock and drug culture posters had him wistfully remembering how, from the first grade on, he’d helped decorate a friend’s bedroom walls with “posters, bumper stickers, photos, magazine covers, Playboy, political memorabilia, concert tickets, whatever. . . .
“His parents recently sold the home, and I was saddened to know that he had to remove all the history from the walls before the new owners would buy it. It was one of those moments you realize you could never go back.”
I told the editor of The Times Sunday magazine that, as far as I could tell, not a single reader had called or mailed an objection to the column. She found that interesting.
Not long ago, the magazine featured a cover that showed actors Billy Bob Thornton and Geoffrey Rush smoking--tobacco, presumably. It seems that several readers have complained, saying the image promotes a filthy habit.
How’s that for a sign of the times?
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A story about the professed psychic who claims to have spoken with the late Pal the pug was another that seemed certain to stir reaction. The controversy, you may recall, concerns the dueling necropsies of Pal. Veterinarians in the city’s Department of Animal Regulation concluded that he was killed by a coyote, but three outside vets, who were retained by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles, say Pal was killed by a person wielding a sharp knife.
The response was predictable. While some activists wrote to emphasize the evidence indicating that Pal was murdered, a mild note of doubt was offered by a man who described an unusual encounter at about 6:20 a.m. one recent day outside his Encino office. He and his wife, he said, “met Mr. Coyote standing in the middle of the intersection. He looked at us but was unimpressed by our human presence or our car, and as I walked into my building, he just stood there.”
Although Pal’s slaying remains a mystery, one reader offered to resolve a question that seems to baffle both animal rights advocates and the Department of Animal Regulation: Why is the autopsy of an animal called a necropsy?
A better question, suggests Dr. Lawrence J. Segal of Garner, N.C., is: Why isn’t a human post-mortem exam called a necropsy as well?
Segal is a former Valley resident who calls himself an “amateur etymologist.” He explains:
“The term autopsy (Greek auto=self, opsis=view) probably stems from the earliest human anatomy texts in the 16th and 17th centuries. Although the anatomical data was gotten at post mortem examination, apparently the social and religious mores of the times did not allow publication of that fact. Thus the drawings often were of a dead boy demonstrating its own anatomy, with a knife in hand and a smile on face. Hence the term autopsy, or self view.
“Necropsy (Greek necro=death, opsis=view) is the more correct term for post mortem examination of any human or animal. Veterinarians probably use it because of the lack of any tradition. Unfortunately, autopsy has been with the medical profession for over 300 years and seems unlikely to be changed.”
More proof that we live in a human-centric world.
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Space is growing short, but I should note that a couple of readers correctly faulted a recent column concerning a record graffiti restitution payment levied in a plea bargain against a 20-year-old Calabasas tagger. These readers noted that, in recalling a notorious late-night encounter two years ago in Sun Valley that left one tagger dead, another wounded and the man who shot them charged with illegally carrying a concealed weapon, I failed to mention that William Masters consistently claimed that one of the taggers had threatened him with a screwdriver.
Scott Harris’ column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Readers may write to Harris at the Times Valley Edition, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311, or via e-mail at scott.harris@latimes.com Please include a phone number.
