Letters: Butch Cassidy, foreign customs, Mideast risks

Scoundrels get extra syllables

Susan Spano’s April 20 article “In Pursuit of Butch and Sundance” was magnificent. One inflexible rule of journalese is that American assassins must have three names: John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, James Earl Ray, Mark David Chapman. This courtesy of a resonant three-part moniker is also applied to other dangerous folk. This is why the “Utah bandit” is “Robert LeRoy Parker” to many journalists and just plain “Butch Cassidy” to almost everyone else.

--Evan Dale Santos, Adelanto, Calif.

Dining customs leave lefties out

As far as the gauche practice of reaching for food with one’s left hand in Mumbai, India, and many Middle Eastern countries, I guess that leaves me and millions of other left-handers out for good. Guess I’ll just stick to the good ole USA for now.

--Kyle Kimbrell, Playa del Rey

Israel, Egypt: What risk?

My husband and I just returned from Israel and Egypt, and I want to shout from the rooftops that we had been misled about the risk of visiting these countries. We never felt afraid. The visible security in both countries is quite reassuring. I encourage people to relax and not be afraid to travel.

--Mona Shafer Edwards, Los Angeles