Inbox — Aug. 21, 2013

Letters to the Editor

Aug 21, 2013 at 5:00 am

Correction
Last week’s A&E Guide listings omitted the Clifton Center’s 2013-2014 season schedule. LEO regrets the error.

CLIFTON CENTER

Dick Sisto & Steve Allee — Aug. 25

Dave Douglas Quartet — Sept. 29

Miró String Quartet — Oct. 2

Aimee Mann — Oct. 6

Tim O’Brien & Darrell Scott — Oct. 19

Trio Brasileiro — Oct. 25

Marc Cohn — Nov. 7

Bill Frisell’s Big Sur Quintet — Dec. 4

Melody Walker & Jacob Groopman — Dec. 5

Give-A-Jam to End Homelessness — Dec. 19

Kiran Ahluwalia — Jan. 24

Ruthie Foster & Eric Bibb — Feb. 14

Solas — Feb. 20

The Gibson Bros. — Feb. 27

Habib Koité — March 1

Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole — March 13

Reading Reeds
I enjoyed reading the June 26 article by Mali Anderson. Parrish Court has a particular meaning to me because I knew Dr. Charles Parrish when I was a student at Louisville Municipal College, a college of U of L for African-American students. Dr. Parrish was the only professor who was hired on the campus of U of L when Louisville Municipal College closed in 1951.

I look forward to viewing the “Red Reeds” sculpture when I am on campus this upcoming semester. Thanks for giving people a reason to visit Parrish Court. I have viewed the sculptures by Russell Vogt in Galerie Hertz’s gardens on many occasions. I will share this with others who attended the Louisville Municipal College.
Elmer Lucille Allen, West End

Fix What’s Here
Regarding Steve Shaw’s July 24 column: Kudos to Professor Gilderbloom for taking the mayor’s office to task for hiring a consultant who predicts that Louisville will see an increase in car traffic of 180 percent over the next 25 years and a doubling of the number of cars. This would mean that Louisville will severely buck a local and national trend, led by young adults and thus likely to continue, of revitalization of older neighborhoods with higher density.

This reminds me of the mayor’s idea that we should strive to combine with Lexington to create a “mega-region” in that both are presented as good ideas having nothing to do with rolling out the red carpet for developers to build more in the hinterlands while trying to make sure there are plenty of vacant eyesores in older neighborhoods. Given the trend among the young to live in older, denser neighborhoods, if Louisville wants to attract young professionals, then Crescent Hill, the Highlands and the West End (yes, the West End) are ripe for revitalization, and such efforts will be necessary unless we want to allow sprawl to deliver the same spike in Louisville’s heart that is currently being delivered to Detroit.
Ron Schneider, Hikes Point

Local Sex
I enjoyed LEO’s July 24 interview with author and activist Dan Savage. I am, however, disappointed with them. LEO is a local original that often spotlights the unique society, artistry and music that, for lack of a better way to say it, keeps Louisville weird. However, LEO prints a syndicated column from Savage every week. As far as I can determine, the author/activist has never lived in Louisville. Savage has no roots or ties to the city (save the local LEO prints his column), nor does he have reason to. I don’t mean to downplay the man’s accomplishments, but does LEO really expect its readers to believe there are no people in the city who can write a sex advice column?

If it were a local writer, then maybe the questions would be more likely to represent questions Louisvillians have rather than people from areas of the country who may be unlike the population here? Heck, I’m gay, have a communications degree, worked as a journalist for three years and, yes, can be very blunt about sex. (Did I mention I also live in Louisville?) It just seems LEO could do so much better than Gannett, Clear Channel or any mega communications company that owns local news outlets and not outsource its columns. Come on, guys (and gals), let’s keep Louisville and LEO homegrown and maybe show other cities that, yes, we do have sex in Louisville and aren’t afraid to talk about it, too.
Steven Willis, Old Louisville