Letters to the Editor: P-22 wanted food and a mate. He might get a stamp instead

To the editor: For years, a wild mountain lion roamed the hills around Griffith Park in search of food and a mate. His extreme hunger led him into residents’ backyards. He constantly awaited his prey — a small pet or trash left in the open. (“A P-22 postage stamp? Schiff kicks off effort to honor L.A.’s celebrity puma,” Feb. 3)

The spectacle was entertaining for many, so a deceased celebrity he is. He was constantly in hiding, at the end of his life with a fractured skull.

Let’s celebrate his life. Don’t you just love it?

Let us lick a stamp in his honor. Perhaps the taste will remind us of the bitterness in P-22’s life, a life celebrated not by him, but by the people who witnessed his silent agony for years.

Patricia Huff, South Pasadena

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To the editor: I read about honoring P-22 with a tear in my eye and a tug on my heart.

Of course I would be one of the first to purchase and use a U.S. Postal Service stamp commemorating the late local mountain lion we all recognize as P-22. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) is right to propose this memorial.

Still, I think that the stamp should be available at a higher cost than a “forever” stamp. The extra proceeds should go toward protection for wildlife of all kinds and to help educate our citizens, young and old, on how to recognize and appreciate the needs and lifestyles of our local wildlife.

After all, we reside on their land.

Morley J. Helfand, Arcadia