Payoff for a liar on the rebound

I can’t open a newspaper or turn on the TV without hearing the gosh-I’m-sorry-saga of Jayson Blair (“Looking for the Answers,” by Bettijane Levine, March 13).

Enough.

It’s remarkable how apologetic and contrite people like Blair get -- right after they’re caught. But of course it’s not his fault. He was, after all, manic, depressed, psychotic, an alcoholic, a cocaine addict and an African American. Did he suffer the horror of dandruff as well?

Courageous, though, in how quickly he’s been able to rebound, fast enough to take advantage of his 15 minutes of fame for a fat payoff: collecting a $150,000 paycheck by cranking out a book filled with conversations that are “accurate in essence.”

Mark Wheeler

Canoga Park