Billy Barty

* I was saddened to read about the death of Billy Barty (Dec. 24). In June of 1943 I graduated from high school and immediately joined the Navy. There was a waiting period of about five months before I was to report to boot camp, so I enrolled at L.A. City College to take a few courses. It was there that I met Billy. There was no organized football because of wartime restrictions, so a group of us formed our own teams and Billy was on mine. During one of our games I sustained a severe knee injury and Billy carried me off the field unassisted.

A few years ago I met him at a performance of the L.A. Junior Philharmonic Orchestra, where he was a guest, and I reminded him of the incident. He was ecstatic, proclaiming that all of his life he had been telling people that he played college football and no one believed him. Now here I was, living proof that he did play college football. He did indeed, and he was a wonderful athlete and a wonderful person.

HERB BERKUS

Los Angeles

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* I was very saddened by the demise of Barty, who apparently had a bigger heart than height on a measuring stick. He was responsible for starting the Little People of America and the Billy Barty Foundation, both of which offer support and help for the little people like him. I can see him now in the role he played in the movie “‘Foul Play,” trying in vain to sell Goldie Hawn a Bible for the life hereafter. Well, Billy, maybe God will put you on his team to finally sell some of those Bibles.

BILL SPITALNICK

Newport Beach