Letters

Many Tanks

Kudos to Geoff Bouvier (“No One’s Ever Told Me That I Look Like a Fish,” Cover Story, April 24)! I tried repeatedly to get Jim Holman and the late, great Judith Moore to let me write the story he just published on the tropical fish culture of San Diego. David Huie is a San Diego treasure. I’ll never forget him talking about chocolate gourami — gorgeous, difficult little fish. “Oh, I love those,” Huie exclaimed. “I’ve killed hundreds of them!” I doubt very much that David killed hundreds of them, but his comment captured for me the attraction and the challenge of keeping these little exotic worlds. My poor wife foolishly let me take over half the garage, and while we only have 30 tanks, I have designs on the pool. Perhaps I can raise food fish in the winter and Cyprichromis in the summer. My lifelong wish is to go snorkeling in my little Tanganyika simulacrum. David, give me a call!

Allan Peterson
via email

Forgotten Runners

This is just a reminder to Matt Potter, the senior editor. He mentioned that Marti Emerald was running against April Boling in District Seven (“Breaking News,” April 24), and he forgot to put in the fact that she’s also running against David Tos. Would appreciate maybe a correction, please.

Name Withheld

Bill Daniel is also running for the Seventh District city council seat. — Editor

Music From The Womb

I’m calling about the article “Intimate Opera: A Selection of Puccini” (“Local Events,” April 24). You’re writing about Offenbach here. You mention Orpheus in the Underworld. You say, “During the same time period, Franz Lehár, an Austrian composer, wrote The Merry Widow (1861).” I don’t think that’s correct, because he wasn’t born until 1870, and he actually wrote The Merry Widow in 1905.

Offenbach’s La Belle Hélène was written in 1864; that’s, of course, six years before Lehár was born. Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann was written in 1881; Lehár would have been 11. It’s hardly the same kind of operetta. Two different worlds — really different periods of time. I think somebody’s been leading you astray, lying about their age, maybe.

Name Withheld

Outsiders Can’t Judge

For some time I have wondered how the content of a sermon can be evaluated (“Sheep and Goats”), especially by someone who is not a member of the congregation.

Earl Kline
via email

Matthew Lickona responds: Dear Mr. Kline, It’s not an exact science, partly for the reason you mention. Certainly, if there is some sort of source text mentioned, I try to evaluate how well the sermon works with that text — whether it works from it and stays true to its meaning or seeks to use it for some other end. Whether it remains grounded in that text. That sort of thing.

I have other criteria, but it’s true that there’s a fair amount of intuition involved — how it strikes me, how it seems to strike the congregation. Granted, there are things that I, as an outsider, will miss. But there may also be things that my outsider status helps me to notice. Thanks for reading.

Define “Crash”

The Crasher “crashed” an event that was open to everyone when he came to the Thomas Jefferson School of Law’s lecture by Judge James Gray on drug policy (“Crasher,” April 10).

Chris Saunders
Communications Specialist
Thomas Jefferson School of Law

Classical Gas

I notice that, increasingly, the classical music announcements do not include the price (or range) of admission. This inclusion was helpful in selecting events which match our pocketbook and driving distance.

Sam R. Porter
via email