Mailbag

In Honor of Glen

I found the Desert View Trail Roam-O-Rama hike description by the Canyoneers (January 31) to be somewhat bittersweet. Although the description of the hike to Glen’s View is accurate in all aspects, and the article even includes a photograph of Glen’s Memorial, I was saddened that there was no mention at all of Glen.

Glen was a park ranger at William Heise Park when he cut the Desert View Trail to the viewpoint. He did this so others could also enjoy the view of both the Salton Sea and Pacific Ocean from that one special place, which is why his memorial is located there.

Glen was a Sierra Club member, an accomplished climber, Eagle Scout, and much more. The memorial was placed there as an Eagle Scout project. Glen is survived by his mother, Edith, who at 98 years of age is still active with the Boy Scouts, his widow Darlene, and brother David.

Steven Tatreau
via voicemail

Wasabi Memories

I’m reading your January 24 issue of the Reader. I was reading about all these restaurants and my mouth was watering — some of them sound so terrific! There’s an article on page 60 by Ian Pike (“Fresh Wasabi at Ikiru”) that brought back a bittersweet memory.

Many years ago, my now-deceased, much-adored husband of 40 years and I were on our way home. I hadn’t thought of anything for dinner and we didn’t feel like eating out. So we stopped by the supermarket in Hillcrest. I ran in to pick up some steaks so we could grill them really quickly when we got home.

While at the meat counter, I was perusing all the adorable-looking sushi rolls. They were so cute — they make them look like animals and things. My husband would try anything once. And there was one that looked like a centipede or something. So, I bought that, along with the steaks.

We were driving home and my husband was so hungry, I started feeding him the pieces of sushi as he drove. I’d put a bite in his mouth, and he’d chew it up. He thought it was really good. After he’d eaten all the pieces, there was a blob of dark green left on the plate. Being a California girl, I thought it was guacamole. So, I picked up the plastic spoon and scooped up the entire amount and put it in his mouth. Well, we nearly ran off the road. It was wasabi! I had never heard of such a thing before!

My husband was a Cajun, so he really liked spicy food, but I don’t know that he’d ever had wasabi before either.

Ian Pike said he had fresh wasabi. Whether this was fresh or not, I have no idea! But this article really brought me back to that day, and how much I miss that terrific guy. Thank you so much.

Veronica
via voicemail

In Quotes

I enjoyed Richard V. Lawhead’s letter to the Reader (January 24) along with others you publish weekly.

Here is how I took his letter, and I quote, “Your policies concerning the voices you print in the letters section are very...right and your right to print them.... That includes e-mail, as well....You’re allowing some real...responsible journalism.”

Thanks, Rich! I couldn’t have said it better.

Jason Robinson
via email

Kudos, Don

Really good investigation, research, and reporting by Don Bauder on the H1-B visa program (City Lights: “Engineers Dislike H-1B; Bosses Gloat,” January 10). It’s bad enough that our large corporations, such as Microsoft, Intel, IBM, and Oracle outsource plants and jobs from the U.S. But it’s salt in the wound to deny 85,000+ yearly. Shame on the San Diego Chamber of Commerce for promoting more job losses so that corporate profits can increase. Kudos to the Reader for courageously supporting investigative reporting.

Size Gripe

I am an avid reader of the San Diego Reader; however I have one major gripe. Why did you change the font size of the weekly crossword puzzle? I am a huge fan of the puzzle, but with my failing eyesight and vision, the new format is much too small for me to complete. Please do your best to return to the old, larger-size font format.

Melanie Wilner
via email