Sam Hall Kaplan

Maybe Sam Hall Kaplan can explain why we have to go to New Jersey and Australia for the design of an "L. A. landmark project" (Jan. 31). As a design professional (mechanical engineer) who has been in private practice in Los Angeles since 1961 and who, by the way, is a native Angeleno, I was extremely disappointed that a major project is again being considered by the design professionals outside the Southern California area. When you take into account that some of the finest firms are based in our city, it is hard to accept or, for that matter, why a developer would feel it necessary, to go outside the state for architectural design assistance.

In the article, "Irish City of Ghosts Celebrates 1,000th Birthday" (Jan. 10), by Sam Hall Kaplan, there's a picture of a bridge called the Penny Bridge in Dublin. Actually, it's the Ha'penny Bridge. I lived there many years ago, and I am enclosing a post card that was purchased in September, 1987, in Dublin, which shows the bridge and also calls it the Ha'penny Bridge. GWEN ROCK Los Angeles

Sam Hall Kaplan's comments (Oct. 18) regarding the Mulholland Scenic Parkway and the "shortsighted greed" of the residents are ignorant and insulting. If Mr. Kaplan had bothered to attend any of the meetings he would have heard residents speak emotionally about all the problems as a result of just a few overlooks that exist now. Tons of garbage, graffiti, drugs, noise into early hours of the morning, property destruction, etc. He would have heard people who moved to Mulholland because of a love of scenic beauty, animals and privacy oppose being told how high they can build, how much they can expand, what color they have to paint their homes, and other limitations that deprive people of basic rights of freedom.

I want to thank Sam Hall Kaplan for his thoughtful and insightful coverage of Taliesen Gates (Aug. 30.). We all thought his column was sensational. KATE FLITNER Phoenix

How appropriate of you to pay tribute to such giants as Will and Ariel Durant and Harvey S. Perloff around Memorial Day. The Durants opened up a whole new world for me with "The Story of Philosophy" which was required reading my freshman year and converted me into a lifelong aficionado. As Sam Hall Kaplan states, Dr. Perloff was in a class by himself in academia, and it is reassuring to know that both he and his beloved Mimi knew it during his lifetime. SHERRY TERZIAN Los Angeles

Angelenos and others who have read the Los Angeles Times over the last half-dozen years or so are familiar with the writing of Sam Hall Kaplan, the design critic of that newspaper. His critical writings for The Times have again and again appreciably expanded our awareness of Los Angeles' architecture and of historic preservation by his continual insistence that we must look, react, and judge with a broad picture of this planned, unplanned environment always in mind.

I appreciated reading Sam Hall Kaplan's comments, "Mayor's Speech Five Years Too Late" (April 15). Would that there was time for planning to get down to the street level on a block-by-block basis before our extraordinary view from Adelaide Drive in Santa Monica is forever compromised due to a Los Angeles planning appeals board's lack of foresight or sensitivity. Certain areas of our city belong to everyone, or so I feel, and that beautiful drive is just such a one and has been for so long that I cannot imagine it being taken over by ambitious architects and their equally insulated clients.