Bruce Belland

Regarding Jack Mathews' commentary "Higher Anxiety" (Aug. 4): Mel Brooks seems to combine the cynicism of a whore with the naivete of a child. Mathews quotes Brooks: "Vulgarity or bad taste, I use it; therefore I'm painted with that brush." You see, Mel, that's how being an artist works. If you resort to vulgarity and bad taste in your work, sure enough the public tends to identify you with those qualities. I was raised to believe that having a talent and not using it is wrong.

On a sweltering August day in the '50s, I cut my summer school class at Hollywood High School and headed for the beach with my buddies. That afternoon, flaked out on the sand, one of the guys pointed out Catalina in the distance and speculated that it was "around 26 miles" away. (Yes, I now know it isn't.) I picked up my ukulele and began to compose a song called "26 Miles" (Across the Sea) that would ultimately take my high school recording group the Four Preps to dizzying heights and help put my daughters through college.

Regarding "War-Torn Woody," Steve Weinstein's profile of actor Woody Harrelson (Aug. 4): Whether or not Weinstein's reportage about Harrelson's courageous stand against Operation Desert Storm has a hidden agenda is impossible to know. But rest assured, when he chose to mention such irrelevancies as Harrelson's American Indian tepee, crystals, a trip to Machu Picchu and "clapping and chanting anti-government slogans" (not "yelling"), he gave all the misguided patriots who continue to cheer our "victory" convenient reason to airily dismiss the actor's valid arguments against our cynical exercise to "free Kuwait."

Return to the innocence of the '50s when Ike was in the White House, Wally and the Beaver were trying to figure out girls, and everybody had a cool car. The year, 1957 was a good one indeed for the Four Preps, the squeaky clean group that immortalized Catalina as the most famous of the Channel Islands with their song, "26 Miles."

Geffen is obviously a complex and compelling man possessing sensitivity and insight, and I applaud his efforts to win understanding, tolerance and acceptance of gays by the military. Perhaps he might try extending that same understanding toward those who choose to serve their country in uniform rather than tossing off a flippant comment like "I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would want to serve in the military." Come on, David, use that laser mind of yours to think about it for a minute.

Concerning Charles Champlin's Sept. 2 article on Jerry Lewis: Even if Lewis' primary motivation for his amazing charitable contributions was pure ego (as some have suggested), so what? The bottom line is that he has helped an awful lot of people ease their pain, physical and otherwise. Anyone who attempts any kind of great achievement must have some kind of ego to believe he or she can accomplish it . . . and that person deserves recognition. After all, the good doctor from La Jolla didn't object when they called it the Salk vaccine, did he?

I enjoyed reading your article on Spalding Gray so very much ("Meet Our Newest Interviewer," April 17). I had never heard of Gray before I returned to school as a graduate student at Cal State Northridge in the speech communication department. Thanks to Prof. Emeritus Donald Salper, I soon discovered the wonderful world of Spalding Gray. In fact, as an assignment, our seminar group did a takeoff on Gray, complete with a lone table, chair, no script and a glass of water. When I first viewed "Swimming to Cambodia," I was bowled over by Gray's honesty.

In response to "Meet Six-Gun Sharon Stone," by Bruce Newman (Jan. 30): After "Basic Instinct," one might wonder what Sharon Stone has left to reveal. Thankfully, it appears she's also gifted with the social conscience, artistic courage and keen intellect to show us "woman revealed in a new way" in her forthcoming film. And just what is this wonderful new woman about? Stone proudly points out that "this character's not trying to run around in the nude so she can get control over somebody."

On a sweltering August day in the '50s, I cut my summer school class at Hollywood High School and headed for the beach with my buddies. That afternoon, flaked out on the sand, one of the guys pointed out Catalina in the distance and speculated that it was "around 26 miles" away. (Yes, I now know it isn't.) I picked up my ukulele and began to compose a song called "26 Miles" (Across the Sea) that would ultimately take my high school recording group the Four Preps to dizzying heights and help put my daughters through college.

Return to the innocence of the '50s when Ike was in the White House, Wally and the Beaver were trying to figure out girls, and everybody had a cool car. The year, 1957 was a good one indeed for the Four Preps, the squeaky clean group that immortalized Catalina as the most famous of the Channel Islands with their song, "26 Miles."

I enjoyed reading your article on Spalding Gray so very much ("Meet Our Newest Interviewer," April 17). I had never heard of Gray before I returned to school as a graduate student at Cal State Northridge in the speech communication department. Thanks to Prof. Emeritus Donald Salper, I soon discovered the wonderful world of Spalding Gray. In fact, as an assignment, our seminar group did a takeoff on Gray, complete with a lone table, chair, no script and a glass of water. When I first viewed "Swimming to Cambodia," I was bowled over by Gray's honesty.

The old blazers with the embroidered crests were abandoned long ago. And the blond Ivy League haircuts have, in some cases, receded with time. But the smooth harmonies that earned the Four Preps a string of hits in the late '50s and early '60s survive. The quartet is today called the New Four Preps, and still includes founding members Bruce Belland and Ed Cobb, who launched the act at a Hollywood High talent show back in 1955.

In response to "Meet Six-Gun Sharon Stone," by Bruce Newman (Jan. 30): After "Basic Instinct," one might wonder what Sharon Stone has left to reveal. Thankfully, it appears she's also gifted with the social conscience, artistic courage and keen intellect to show us "woman revealed in a new way" in her forthcoming film. And just what is this wonderful new woman about? Stone proudly points out that "this character's not trying to run around in the nude so she can get control over somebody."

Geffen is obviously a complex and compelling man possessing sensitivity and insight, and I applaud his efforts to win understanding, tolerance and acceptance of gays by the military. Perhaps he might try extending that same understanding toward those who choose to serve their country in uniform rather than tossing off a flippant comment like "I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would want to serve in the military." Come on, David, use that laser mind of yours to think about it for a minute.

Regarding Jack Mathews' commentary "Higher Anxiety" (Aug. 4): Mel Brooks seems to combine the cynicism of a whore with the naivete of a child. Mathews quotes Brooks: "Vulgarity or bad taste, I use it; therefore I'm painted with that brush." You see, Mel, that's how being an artist works. If you resort to vulgarity and bad taste in your work, sure enough the public tends to identify you with those qualities. I was raised to believe that having a talent and not using it is wrong.

Regarding "War-Torn Woody," Steve Weinstein's profile of actor Woody Harrelson (Aug. 4): Whether or not Weinstein's reportage about Harrelson's courageous stand against Operation Desert Storm has a hidden agenda is impossible to know. But rest assured, when he chose to mention such irrelevancies as Harrelson's American Indian tepee, crystals, a trip to Machu Picchu and "clapping and chanting anti-government slogans" (not "yelling"), he gave all the misguided patriots who continue to cheer our "victory" convenient reason to airily dismiss the actor's valid arguments against our cynical exercise to "free Kuwait."

The old blazers with the embroidered crests were abandoned long ago. And the blond Ivy League haircuts have, in some cases, receded with time. But the smooth harmonies that earned the Four Preps a string of hits in the late '50s and early '60s survive. The quartet is today called the New Four Preps, and still includes founding members Bruce Belland and Ed Cobb, who launched the act at a Hollywood High talent show back in 1955.

It was 50 years ago that Santa Catalina got its unofficial theme song. On Sunday, visitors to the island will get a chance to hear the hit by the man who co-wrote it and sang it back in 1957. Bruce Belland, the original lead singer for the Four Preps, will perform with the New Four Preps at 2 p.m. Sunday for a beachside benefit for the Catalina Island Museum, along with the Chordettes. Belland was a student at Hollywood High when he wrote "26 Miles (Santa Catalina)" on his ukulele.

Concerning Charles Champlin's Sept. 2 article on Jerry Lewis: Even if Lewis' primary motivation for his amazing charitable contributions was pure ego (as some have suggested), so what? The bottom line is that he has helped an awful lot of people ease their pain, physical and otherwise. Anyone who attempts any kind of great achievement must have some kind of ego to believe he or she can accomplish it . . . and that person deserves recognition. After all, the good doctor from La Jolla didn't object when they called it the Salk vaccine, did he?