Quite Honestly ...

Re “Portrait of the Con Artist as a Young Man,” Dec. 6: Recent articles featuring Frank Abagnale (con man turned successful fraud consultant and subject of a Steven Spielberg movie), Winona Ryder (celebrity thief), Enron Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Skilling (scoundrel extraordinaire) and California poet laureate Quincy Troupe (lied about his academic credentials) point to the same conclusion: Crime pays and an honest person is a fool. Perhaps we should officially recognize the truth and start teaching our children the real essential skills for success -- lying, cheating and stealing.

Greg Seyranian

Hermosa Beach