Look into the case

SHAME ON Irene Lacher, who obviously did not do her homework prior to creating a major article for so prestigious a publication as the Los Angeles Times [“An Arresting Development,” June 4, The Envelope]. In showcasing women crimefighters, she totally ignored world-renowned Honey West, the sexy blond female private detective who broke the barrier in fiction history and television, thus paving the way for all the female protagonists to follow. For the record, Honey West was the heroine of 11 mystery novels, 1957 to 1971, selling to the tune of 10 million worldwide, dubbed “the sexiest private eye ever to pull a trigger,” then winning a Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe award. She became a 1965 ABC TV series on prime time and garnered a Golden Globe plus an Emmy nomination. Miramax currently has the rights to a motion picture franchise and, starting in September, the TV series will be available on DVD. Clearly, the impact of Honey West, which Encyclopedia Brittanica deemed “the most famous, fictional female character in the world” continues to gain momentum.

Glori Fickling

Laguna Beach

(Fickling wrote the Honey West mystery novels with her husband Forest E. “Skip” Fickling under the pseudonym G.G. Fickling.)

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Irene Lacher’s article would have been captivatingly complete if she’d only remembered to include Honey West, everyone’s favorite bombshell detective. Honey broke into the male-dominated field of private investigation in print and on TV 50 years ago. She valiantly attempted to remain clothed, sometimes successfully, and she always taught the criminal a thing or two about right from wrong. Honey will always be remembered by her many fans.

Korey Jorgensen, M.D.

Laguna Beach

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During the decade that I was teaching as an adjunct professor of journalism and writing, I would have called any student of mine to the table if they did not research their articles completely and accurately. In fact, when I taught Writing for Publication for Indiana University at Indianapolis during the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, I included research as a core component of their final grade. Anyone as iconic as Honey West needed to be included in The Envelope article, in my opinion.

Charlene Faris

Aliso Viejo