Calendar Letters:A wonderful homage to New Orleans music

Thanks for Randy Lewis’ tribute to New Orleans music [“The American Ideal,” July 5]. I’ve always thought it was the most American of all music. I’m from here, and I never tire off listening to it. It puts joy in my heart and a smile on my face and pride in my city.

Karen McGillivray

New Orleans

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It’s wonderful that traditional jazz (never Dixieland) not only survived but thrived, to the point that nearly 60 years after its founding, young Ben Gal can keep it alive, not only in a packed Preservation Hall but on the road with a touring band. It’s wonderful that the jazz parades that once were limited to the black community are now universally celebrated. And it’s wonderful to read Randy Lewis’ paean to the place.

Joel Gardner

Cherry Hill, N.J.

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I am 87 years old and so enjoyed your July 5 article on Preservation Hall in New Orleans. It brought back so many wonderful memories.

Genevieve Gunis

Thousand Oaks

What ‘Shoah’ meant to them

Thank you for Kenneth Turan’s appreciation of Claude Lanzmann [“‘Shoah’s’ Eternal Impact,” July 7]. I did not know he had died before seeing your story.

Lanzmann’s passing hits me on a very personal level. I first saw “Shoah” on PBS in 1987. As someone of half-Jewish parentage, seeing the film imprinted something very important on my still-forming view of the world, the ideas I was starting to care about.

Claude Lanzmann showed me that, in confronting evil, as one must confront it, the most important thing is courage. Courage to resist, to have a voice, to not be denied — to be vigilant in one’s witnessing. This had a profound impact on me.

In the years since 1987, I have occasionally returned to the film as one might return to some sacred temple high on a mountain — an arduous act of keeping a certain flame lit, a certain well full, of bearing witness again and again in order to affirm certain truths. It’s a journey I have encouraged my children to take, as well. In this respect, “Shoah” has been much more than a documentary. It’s been a path for seeing, interpreting and responding to the world.

Lanzmann made all that possible for me. For that, I will always be grateful.

David Porges

Pasadena

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Thank you for the article. “Shoah” was utterly unique and extraordinary in my film experience. I saw it over two nights at a theater at UC Santa Barbara (the viewer had to make a commitment).

I’m very sorry the topic and the effort were probably too serious for most people. It’s a loss that it was not seen by many more.

Otis Calef

Santa Barbara

A closer look at Oakland

Regarding “Bay Area Directors Put Oakland on Hollywood’s Radar,” [July 8]: I love to see the love for my hometown.

Mark Barabak

Oakland

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I very much enjoyed your story on Oakland filmmakers in The Times (featuring Boots Riley’s new film). Your tact of sharing their perspective of the “town” rather than taking the angle that it’s all about race. Few writers capture that observation correctly.

Don’t forget about “East Side Sushi” by Anthony Lucero, the forerunner film set in Oakland about racial/cultural strife, social conscience, sex discrimination, rising above impossible odds with strength of passion, love of community. Such a heartwarming story that the audience all stood up and cheered at the end of the screening I saw.

Allison Bliss

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Two views on Gilead, reality

Regarding [“‘Handmaid Tale’s’ All-Too-Prescient Season,” July 9]: What Television Critic Lorraine Ali wrote was more of an editorial against President Trump than a commentary on the show. The similarities between his presidency and the dystopian America in Handmaid’s are so far fetched as to be laughable.

I believe that “The Handmaid’s Tale” is a morality piece, not a political indictment. Our apathy for American values appear as cracks in today’s society. An amoral godless society tends to bend toward evil and spawns chaos.

Carl Basurto

Santa Clarita

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Thank you for capturing with words what is happening in our country now and relating it to the fictional world of Gilead.

The article was chilling and brilliant.

Cristina Armstrong

Maple Shade, New Jersey

I’m sure he lied about his age

In Harlan Ellison’s obituary, his age was given as 84. However, in her letter to the editor [“Calendar Feedback: Harlan Ellison, Always Larger than Life,” July 8], Esther Cole said he was 17 when she and her husband met him in 1954. That would have meant he was born in 1937 and would have been 81 at the time of his death.

Knowing Harlan as well as I did, I have no doubt that when he met the Coles in 1954, he was actually 20 and lied about his age. Even in his later years, Harlan delighted in assuming the persona of an enfant terrible.

Burt Prelutsky

North Hills

Happy birthday, Ringo Starr

Regarding “Ringo Turns 78 With a Little Help From His Friends,” [July 9]: I loved the part about the soldiers with rifles patrolling the venue so Starr’s message of peace and love would not be interrupted. Do I laugh or cry? Rock on, Ringo!

Rick Freeman

Louisville

Great analysis, well, mostly

‎Mark Swed’s article on musical theater and opera’s representation of our national character [“New Sounds of Protest: America’s Musical History,” July 1] was enlightening in many ways. It does what good journalism should do — digs deeper into things we think we know and brings to light some things we didn’t know.

However, the article comes up short when discussing “Hamilton.” All the other musicals are discussed in terms of their music and characterizations, but “Hamilton” is discussed through a lens of ticket prices, the amplification at the Segerstrom and the cost of the program books.

Bonnie Voland

Los Angeles

Giving to the charity of her choice

I questioned George and Amal Clooney’s publicized donation to “Zero Tolerence” [“Calendar Feedback: Clooney Gift Underwhelms,” July 1], then a letter writer asks how much I donated [“Calendar Feedback: She Spoke Out; Did She Give Too?” July 8]. My charity of choice is St. Jude’s Hospital, for children with cancer.

Elaine Vanoff

West Hollywood

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