"I have a serious, painful and hopeless problem," the letter from Sylvia Franklin began. "I'm in extreme need of a dentist."
It's routine in my line of work to hear from people who are sick, lonely, angry or afraid, especially in this economy. Although there's not enough time in the day to take up every cause, some cries are impossible to ignore.
Franklin, who lives in Chatsworth, explained that she was retired on a fixed income, with medical insurance but no dental coverage. Several abscessed teeth had her in excruciating pain, and she had spent days trying to get help. The free clinics would have put her on a waiting list for weeks, and private dentists wanted an up-front payment she couldn't handle.
It had gotten to where she was ready to give up.
"I've always been a positive person, a strong believer in life, but I must tell you, I'm rapidly losing that faith and am getting closer and closer to ending it all," Franklin wrote. "If you know anyone, anyone, please help me. I don't want to die. I'm 74 years old and except for the dental problem I'm in . . . pretty good shape.
"Please Mr. Lopez, please help me."
When I dialed the number on the letter, a female voice answered.
"Mrs. Franklin?"
"Yes," she said.
She was apologetic for having bothered me with her troubles and said she'd finally found a dentist who'd taken her in for practically nothing. Franklin, a retired market research specialist, told me her estranged husband died two years ago, leaving her mountains of debt she'd never known about.
He was Gary Franklin, a popular L.A. entertainment reporter and movie critic. Many years ago, in happier times, they'd lived well and raised two daughters in West Hills.
"I was up here, and now I'm down here," she said, telling me it was hard to get used to asking for help. She had given up travel with friends and many other comforts. She was scratching by on Social Security and a portion of his pension, and dental insurance was either too expensive or covered very little.
This dentist really saved her, she said.
And who, I wondered, was the good Samaritan?
Dr. Kenneth Hirsch, Franklin told me. Friends of hers had recommended him.
And so I paid a visit to the Warner Victory Medical Center on Topanga Canyon Boulevard, where Hirsch told me he has been a dentist for 40 years.
"The job has been good to me and I'm giving back," he said. "There's nobody you can't help."
