Letters

One for Larry
Holly Mullen is right that in the past Larry North has trusted people to the point of naivete ["Feeling the burn," April 3]. He is also one of the most honest and genuinely nice people I have ever known.

I met Larry seven years ago when our company moved to Highland Park Village. Impressed, I became a client, an investor in some of his enterprises, and a friend. I have never regretted it.

Day in and day out, Larry is the same in person as he is on the radio. He always has time for everyone, whether or not they can do him any good. He cares about every person he talks to. In the past, Larry has had a tendency to leave too many details to others, and to focus only on the big picture. But recently I've watched him rise to the occasion. He has tirelessly conducted meetings, learned to read contracts and spreadsheets, and rallied his troops. You watch. Larry North is a winner who will emerge from this controversy smarter, more financially strong, and with an even better reputation than before. Mullen was also correct to characterize this dispute as a battle over the Larry North name. It remains a priceless asset.

Jim Halperin
Via Internet

Fowler's soapbox
For the most part, I enjoyed Jimmy Fowler's piece about classical guitarist Carlo Pezzimenti ["Goldfingers," March 6]. But there was some evidence of what I consider irresponsible journalism. On page 14, Fowler first cheapens his piece by saying "many wonder why they've never heard such lovely, haunting--and, yes, accessible--compositions before." Then, Fowler proceeds to drop in a quote from WRR's Anthony McSpadden that reeks of prejudice and ignorance. The quote--"music is to be enjoyed"--is overtly simplistic and already drops the article to a level of hinting that music is indeed to be a source of passive entertainment, something which Pezzimenti is clearly against.

Then, Fowler goes on to talk about the so-called "arrhythmic, atonal, cacophonous experimentism of some recent compositions that alienates people." That, too, is irresponsible. The composers are people, and they certainly don't wish to alienate themselves. I also know, and know of, many listeners who are healthy, happy humans who love the music and are not the least bit alienated by it. All of this prefaces a statement by Pezzimenti that simply describes the tritone and goes on to mention that the music using the tritone lacks the safe quality that people associate with classical music.

Carlo is clearly not judging the tritone--just explaining it. Also, if we also took life as safely and tamely as the music that some listeners want to hear, we wouldn't progress as a people; we wouldn't have visionaries; we would probably not even have lives of our own. Therefore, Mr. Fowler, if you want to get on your soapbox about the so-called "joys" of tonal music (don't get me wrong, I do have much tonal music in my collection, but also much 20th-century music that I love listening to), then do it in an editorial context outside of a biography, or keep your personal opinions to yourself and your loved ones. Intelligent, informed people do not need someone like yourself telling us what to listen to. We can pretty much make that decision on our own.

Russell Summers
Via Internet

Surfer's react
Hallelujah! I'm so glad you guys have finally made it into cyberspace! No more scrounging around Dallas, looking for a whole Observer, or passing miles of empty racks. You have also saved me lots of money for postage (you see, I keep having to cut out your articles and send them to distant friends and relatives). Thanks for coming to the Web--and thanks for all the good journalism!!

Laura Perkins Cox
Via Internet

Hey hey hey! A website! I have been waiting for this since I moved up here to Sucklahoma! Missing home is bad, and not having the Observer right next to me every Wednesday night was worse! Making it all the better, I knew you kids would do me right! I must add, beautiful page! Just magnificent!

Nancy Shelton
Via Internet

It's a great website. The only gripe I have is the lack of a search engine to look for specific information.

Simon Wallace
Via Internet