CORRESPONDENCE

To the Editor:

Some parts of Greg Goldin’s comprehensive review of my book “Last Man Standing: the Tragedy and Triumph of Geronimo Pratt” (Book Review, Oct. 1) are a little less thoughtful than others. One example: He takes me to task for failing “to suggest” why the police informer Julius Butler “contrived to destroy Pratt’s life,” which he calls “the central mystery” of the case. He then offers your readers his own solution, every fact and nuance of which comes straight from the pages of my book. This is dirty pool. I did much more than “suggest” why Butler rolled over on his colleague Pratt; I solved this “central mystery” in detail. Perhaps Goldin skipped these pages. Your reviewer also falls into a trap that could’ve been (and was) predicted: He couldn’t resist reviewing Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. I suppose this was inevitable in Los Angeles.

Jack Olsen

Bainbridge Island, Wash.