Throwing a Little Light on That ‘Cast’

Ignore, for the moment, William Wilson’s review of “The White House Collection of American Crafts” (“ ‘White House’ Stands Too Much on Ceremony,” Calendar, July 6). I take exception to the caption beneath the accompanying photo of Zachary Oxman’s work. A “bronze, granite and marble cast with candles”? Have you never heard of a menorah? Perhaps the title of the piece, “A Festival of Light,” could have given you a clue as to its strange and apparently bizarre use during Hanukkah?

Mislabeling an object, whether ethnic, religious or merely decorative, does a disservice to your readers and to the ethnic group, religion and/or culture depicted. I never knew that a menorah was so obscure an item that the L.A. Times had to term it a “cast with candles.” I wonder what The Times would make of those odd trees decorated in red and white in late December? Whatever could they be?

DIANE SALTZBERG

Los Angeles