Calendar Letters: That was the year that was

I’ve just finished reading your essay [“1968: Days of Rage and Wonder” by Jeffrey Fleishman, April 22] with tears streaming down my face. It seems that you and I are the same age and that we share many of the same memories. Walter Cronkite’s voice is etched in my brain, my mother drove a green Rambler, I watched “Romeo and Juliet” at the Bruin Theater so many times I can almost quote it verbatim. It was a pivotal year for me, and for many, it seems. I thank you for putting it into words so beautifully. I can feel the angst of Vietnam, of growing up and of becoming aware that our world is not what it appeared to be when we were young.

Patricia Kattus

Encinitas, Calif.

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This morning, I read your account of your experiences of 1968, and it summed up brilliantly what I was also feeling and experiencing as a young boy during that time. The last paragraph is so eloquent and true in describing the feelings I had then. I felt that anything could and might happen — the country could descend into complete chaos, Buffalo Springfield might come and play a concert at my high school (it did), the cute girl sitting across from me in social studies might become my Juliet (she didn’t, although we are still friends).

Dan Selleck

Palos Verdes

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You wrote a beautiful essay that beautifully captured the feeling of 1968 for kids trying to navigate their way through it. One small detail — for an 11-year-old girl, it was “Here Come the Brides” rather than “Sea Hunt.”

Marijane Miller

West Hollywood

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Regarding “1968: Pop Goes Big” [April 22]: My fellow college students and I were invited to a free afternoon concert at San Fernando Valley State College in Northridge (now Cal State Northridge) in April 1968. We did not know who would perform. The first performer was a raspy female singer named Janis Joplin with her band the Holding Company. She knocked us dead with her voice and hot band. After a break, it was announced that a new British band named Cream would perform. Never had I heard three musicians have such a powerful sound. Cream, with Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, became my favorite band for the next 40 years. It was a special day in college one would never forget.

Jack McGrath

Port Hueneme

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Regarding “1968: Engaging Moments” [April 22]: It was a welcome nod to see Mason Williams mentioned as an upstart writer for “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” in 1968. He is more frequently credited as a composer and performer of the instrumental “Classical Gas.” That song was embraced by rockers and easy listeners alike, and it crystallizes the essence of that year.

Cee Cousteau

Hollywood

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When writing about “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” you omitted writer Carl Gottlieb, who went on to even bigger things, such as writing the screenplay for “Jaws,” “Jaws 2” and “The Jerk,” and he co-wrote and directed “Caveman” (a film responsible for introducing Ringo Starr to future wife Barbara Bach). Gottlieb also continued his on-screen acting in many other movies.

Allison Caine Gottlieb

Los Angeles

Editor’s note: Allison Caine Gottlieb is Carl Gottlieb’s ex-wife.

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I am a sports fan and a rock fan, but I had not made the connection between the two until reading your clever article on the emergence of arena rock.

Bob Holmes

Manhattan Beach

Worth the price of admission

Thank you for theater critic Charles McNulty’s excellent article on Glenda Jackson [“Tempest and Teapot,” April 28]. True grit on both sides of the interview. The article was a refreshing reminder that the value of subscribing to The Times exceeds the cost.

Huey Cotton

Tarzana

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The entire episode between you two, how McNulty re-created it on the page could be a play itself. Meeting our idols and suffering the slings and arrows of their need to be truly seen, heard and understood makes for amazing, if painful encounters.

You survived, she became more compassionate in the process, and you captured it all beautifully for our enjoyment.

Carla Howard

Los Angeles

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I am still laughing after reading McNulty’s interview with Jackson. You say that you were “filleted,” but what comes through from your writing is respect and affection for someone who was probably a spitfire from birth.

Hope you got some rest.

Renee Lonner

Sherman Oaks

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I saw “Three Tall Women” yesterday, so McNulty’s account was all the more wonderful.

Sally Satel

Washington, D.C.

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It must have been difficult (for you) and it was revealing and fascinating (for us).

Barbara Pritzkat

Redondo Beach

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Having read so many interviews with actors, your report on Jackson — one of my all-time favorites — was unique. More like a scene with characters from a play or film. I empathized with both of you, and appreciated not just her candor but also yours.

Al Rossi

Lake Balboa

In memory of a talented artist

Thank you for the well-written obituary on artist Laura Aguilar [“Laura Aguilar, 1959-2018,” April 27]. It’s refreshing when The Times gives prominent space to our local artists and highlights human-interest elements.

EJ Oshins

Studio City

Time to turn the tables, eh?

Bruce Miller, the executive producer and showrunner of Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” sounds like a good guy and a talented writer, which makes his position as a male in charge of everything female slightly more palatable. But the justifications offered up by the others quoted in the article for not hiring a female writer as showrunner [“Handmaids Reach Uncharted Territory, April 25”] fall miserably short.

I look forward to the day when a woman is hired to write, direct and produce a show all about men because the males in charge just couldn’t find a man who could pull it off as effectively.

Babs Greyhosky

Los Angeles

In hindsight, more questions

Regarding “Larry King’s Having a Blast” [April 26]: I turned with great interest to TV critic Robert Lloyd’s interview with Larry King, as King has a show on RT America, a channel many regard as Russian propaganda. However, you asked him nothing about his connection with the channel. What does King think of RT America, and why did he elect to work for it? Does he defend it? Maybe the Calendar section writers try to avoid anything that smacks of politics, but in view of today’s news stories, your omission was truly glaring.

Lee Wohlfert

Laguna Niguel

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