Letters

I cannot recall reading a more mean-spirited article than Paul Brownfield’s slice-and-dice job on Danny Gans (“Las Vegas Loves Who?,” July 28).

Almost everything about Gans seems to have ticked off Brownfield, from Gans’ religiously inspired lifestyle to the simpletons who inexplicably enjoy his allegedly marginal talents. The result of all this negativity is that I now really want to see a guy I’d never heard of.

LEONARD G. KASSEL

Los Angeles

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Why so grumpy, Mr. Brownfield? Your piece was rife with snide asides. Did Gans step on your pet turtle or something?

DAVE MALLOW

Los Feliz

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Danny Gans’ whining that he “was 36 hours away from the major leagues” immediately reminded me of another entertainer who used to tell his audiences that he was “just that far away”--Johnny Mathis. The crooner liked to say that he had to give up a shot at the 1956 Olympics if he was going to make it as a singer.

The record shows that Mathis was a fine high-jumper in college. Period. His best wasn’t even the best in his school, as he had a teammate named Bill Russell who opted to play on the Olympic basketball team rather than try out for the high-jump squad. Russell, in fact, was world-ranked in the high jump in 1956 while Mathis was, like Gans, another wannabe. But it sounds good to the audiences in Las Vegas.

GEOFF NELSON

North Hollywood

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Please, someone tell me the Christian pastor mentioned in the article--who plays golf at an exclusive course with a $500 greens fee--doesn’t give Sunday sermons urging people to reject the material things of this world.

TOM ORR

Huntington Beach