Melrose place

Re “Seriously, What About a Tarp?” by Scott Timberg, Jan. 29: I spent some of the happiest times of my life in the 8500 Melrose building in late 1988 and early 1989.

One of my best friends and I became business partners and opened an accounting service there. We spent lots of dollars, laughter and tears as we redesigned our space within that building. We obtained clients despite predictions that we wouldn’t, and the fact that we were in that building added to rather than detracted from that.

When I read the article, I have to admit I was furious that someone could so distort something so beautiful. It has been said that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” I am sorry that Timberg is not able to see this part of the black and pink building on Melrose.

Joyce Gillespie

Gardena

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The piece on the 8500 Melrose building misses the point. We need stimulation in life and one way to get it is from the idea of opposing concepts. In this case the opposing concept occurs via the magnificent landscape of the Los Angeles basin -- the mountains, desert, ocean, etc. -- and the hideous urban sprawl we have covered it with like a giant sore. So looking at it from that angle, you may want to agree that 8500 Melrose is a significant contribution to this point of view -- even a classic.

Jack Spiegelman

Los Angeles