Poundstone Arrest

Paul Brownfield’s excellent analysis on Paula Poundstone’s current legal problems (“A Comic in Trouble, an Image Rewritten,” July 10) was a fascinating look at how the media and society deal with what should be a private matter.

While I’m not a fan of Poundstone, I do respect and admire her dedication to children in need. And now, with this country’s “guilty until proven innocent” mind-set, all she has worked for may be in jeopardy. The fact that this case came up while she was seeking help for alcohol abuse makes me suspect the validity of the charges.

Celebrities are such easy targets for mean-spirited people. It’s a shame the whole matter couldn’t have been kept out of the media’s grasp until all the facts were in. Now, as Brownfield points out in the article, no matter how the case turns out, her life will never be the same again. The sad irony: She is a very private person who relished the very privacy that has been taken from her.

JOHN McELLIGOTT JR.

Fullerton

*

Brownfield’s article praising Poundstone is despicable. She will have her day in court, but for him to insinuate that she did not molest those children without sharing his information is disingenuous.

There is obviously a side to Poundstone that she has never taken on stage with her.

LEE WILLIAMS

Los Angeles

*

The accolades Brownfield bestows on Poundstone, the rave reviews that he gives her, leads one to wonder: Is she a saint? But reading on, one discovers that Poundstone is just another victim. She’s the victim of alcohol. And the journalists are just out to get her. He likens the media jackals to the lions in the Roman Colosseum in the days of yore, when it was Christians zip, lions 10. Poor Paula is the Christian.

But what about the children? What children, you may ask? Good question, as Brownfield didn’t seem to be concerned about them.

MICHAEL ZERBEL

Santee