Kieser Tribute

Thank you for David Milch’s warm tribute to recently deceased Paulist priest Ellwood Kieser (“Hollywood Was This Priest’s Mission,” Sept. 23). I must add, however, that not only did Kieser dedicate his life and his films to bridging the worlds of believer and unbeliever, but he sought to bridge the worlds of the wealthy and the poor.

Kieser produced powerful works such as “Romero,” with the late Raul Julia playing the role of Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was assassinated for speaking out against a brutal dictatorship on behalf of the poor in El Salvador. He also produced the inspiring film “Entertaining Angels,” about the life of heroic Catholic Worker founder Dorothy Day, who spent her life living with and working for the poor, the outcast and the homeless.

His sermons were inspiring, courageous and brutally honest. Like his films, they conveyed his conviction that--as he would boom from the pulpit--the rich desperately need the poor because how else can we come close to a God who took rank with the poor here on Earth.

PAUL L. FREESE Jr.

Los Angeles