UNTOUCHED

Della Reese is just another in the long line of celebrity zealots who “pray” on the spiritually gullible for their own personal aggrandizement (“Preaching What She Practices,” by Judith Michaelson, Nov. 16). Whether a million-dollar paycheck is enough to live on, to subject fans, friends and others to her financial affairs in such a duplicitous manner is the height of audacity and a new professional low in the usage of “Alma” Gantry-like bribe tactics.

By taking it to the streets in such a reckless and garish fashion, Reese has cheapened her cause and any merit it might have had. CBS would be indeed right in firing her altogether from “Touched by an Angel.” In my eyes, she no longer reflects the principles of the program, and anybody who has seen it knows she is merely a byproduct and does not hold it together.

Reese seems to think that God’s path leads straight to her luxurious home at the top of Bel-Air Road. Personally, I think the height has deprived her of desperately needed oxygen. She needs to check her ego at the double door and come back down to Earth where the air is more real . . . and cleaner.

GARY BRUMBURGH

Sherman Oaks