Visit to the Camps

Henry Rollins' column about his trip to Manzanar, where thousands of American of Japanese descent were held during World War II, had readers all wound up (“Remembering Manzanar,” May 9). Jennie Vasquez writes, “What a sad and ugly part of our history. Very moving article. I've [visited] the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo, and many of the docents have a close personal history with the events that occurred. Even though the memories are painful, they share because we all need to know what happened. I would strongly recommend a visit to the museum. It is quite moving and upsetting at the same time.“

RocketJ writes, “I stopped by Manzanar a number of times over the years, once with a friend whose father had been imprisoned there in his youth. I am most amazed how many of these individuals simply resumed life and regained what was lost through hard work while showing almost no animosity toward the nation that unjustly stole from and imprisoned them. As you said, the hurt they felt for being treated as disloyal is so strong as to almost be palpable.”

James Hepburn has a different take. “Henry Rollins' Manzanar visit column leaves out important facts. Namely, the relocation/internment scheme was produced and directed by leftist liberal heroes FDR and Earl Warren. The ONLY prominent public figure who spoke out against it was that bad old right-wing troglodyte J. Edgar Hoover. He flatly refused to let FBI agents be involved and they had to use federal marshals to do the dirty work. Please tell the whole truth.”

People Who Profile People

Last week was our People issue, and amongst all the accolades (which we were thrilled to receive!) were a few dissents. Henry Festa did not like Paul Teetor's profile of Tony Capozzola (“Soul Survivor”), writing, “[S]enior attorney Tony Capozzola in your People issue was a glaring token inclusion. He was the only Italian-American and the oldest person in the issue. You couldn't find a young hipster to add instead of this legal relic? Olive skins and voweled surnames are the true minorities in the U.S., at only 5 to 6 percent of the population and 70 percent negative depiction in media.”

Kimberly Tavernia, meanwhile, didn't enjoy Jill Stewart's profile of Daniella Meeker (“Superbug, Meet Superwoman”). She writes, “I find it offensive that this article kept referencing Daniella's looks, as if the writer was confused about how a beautiful woman could also be smart. If Daniella was a man, physical aspects probably wouldn't have been mentioned in the article since they aren't at all relevant to the subject.”

Corrections

Two People issue profiles contained errors. Robin Richards was an investor in Mastro's, not an owner, and his CareerArc Group is a $100 million business; it does not do $100 million in business a year. Also, Valerie Gor­don runs Valerie Confections with her domestic partner; they are not married. We regret the errors.

You Write, We Read

Please send letters to L.A. Weekly, 3861 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, CA 90230. Or email us at ReadersWrite@laweekly.com. Full name and contact info preferred.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.