On the Beach

Jessica P. Ogilvie's story about a falsely accused Eagle Scout had readers fuming (“Gay Sting Hurts Scout's Dreams,” Nov. 8, 2013). Writes Tomriddle, “Eleven months after the fact, and they charge him with 'resisting arrest' — what in God's name? Instead of being apologetic and doing everything they can to correct an egregious error on their parts, the Manhattan Beach Police Department goes through the dog-and-pony show of charging this poor kid with something that petty? I weep for this country, I really do.”

Writes whateveryousay, “So, let me get this straight: The police officer peeped through a hole at a minor kid in the bathroom? How is that not a crime?”

Henry Rollins: The Verdict!

Two weeks after we opened our mailbag to a reader named Paolo Giampietro who claimed to not “get” Weekly columnist Henry Rollins (even as he admitted, yes, he couldn't stop reading Henry Rollins), we've been swamped with even more Rollins-related mail than usual.

And the verdict is now clear. Yes, some readers just don't like the column — a few of whom took the opportunity to pitch themselves as replacements (classy!) But for the most part, you guys like Henry; you really like him. The emails defending Rollins' column outweighed the ones urging us to dump it by a ratio of 3:1.

Writes Jackson, “I am possibly everything Henry Rollins would hate. I have lived in Silver Lake for 30 years. I had to leave for a few years but just came back. And what is the first thing I wanted to do? Read Henry Rollins in the L.A. Weekly. He takes me to places I've been and places I want to go. He writes in a style that is so honest, and direct. When he goes to a club, I'm there. When he wonders at the magic of music, and the force and confusion of you, I want to go back there.”

Jason Garrett adds, “I would offer that sometimes a 'boring,' unsentimental, unemotional, anticlimactic story about a guy who is doing his best and sharing how he gets through a day can sometimes be the most valuable story of all. Keep writing, man. Not like you would ever stop.”

Then there's Thomas Owens, who addresses Giampietro's criticism head-on. “I don't own one single record/song/45 by Rollins,” he writes. “But I admire his ways. I don't think he writes his column so some Echo Park–Silver Lake–hipster-wannabe-DORK can live vicariously. All I see is him doing is encouraging you to get out and experience your own adventures. He's obviously giving people some insight into what he's about, given the number of fans he has. But I don't think he's using his column as some sort of autobiography that we all should be reading while we drink our lattes at some corny-ass outdoor 'cafe' with crooked sidewalks in East Hollywood.”

Finally, we heard from Kenneth A. Rosen, who writes simply, “His writing is the only reason I buy your paper.” Buy? Are we now a commodity on the black market? If so, how can we get a cut?

You Write, We Read

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