The Sticky Fate of L.A.

Amy Wilentz’s piece about the death of the La Brea Woman demonstrates that any misfortune in Los Angeles, no matter how remote in time, can be spun into a generalization about the city (“L.A. Woman,” Aug. 20). You would think that Wilentz would be happy that L.A. no longer deals with annoying interlopers the way the La Brea Woman was dealt with. (My theory is that she met her fate after complaining about the pizza once too often.)

So attending a Westside dinner party is analogous to being brutally murdered and thrown into the tar pits? Gee, that’s fair. I believe a closer analogy could be made between the fate of the La Brea Woman and the commentary of people such as Wilentz. The La Brea Woman did, after all, die of a cheap shot.

Robert Fiore

Los Angeles