To the Editor

THE KIDS CAN DANCE
I really enjoyed Camille LeFevre’s article on Ten Foot Five [“Fancy Foot Work,” November]. Four years ago, I was fortunate enough to meet Rick and Andy and the rest of their group. I can say without a doubt that they are some of the most talented and inspiring artists I’ve had the pleasure of performing with and learning from. Thanks for the great pictures and article. After watching this amazing group for four years it’s great to see them getting this kind of exposure.
Mariah Christensen
Minneapolis

CULTIVATING INSPIRATION
Regarding “Can Organics Save the Family Farm,” [September] if we didn’t need Eliot Coleman writing and farming so much, I’d plead for him to run for president. His excellent article explains why I feel the way I do about two things: allowing the USDA to determine the meaning of “organic” is bad, and our little market garden business is important and necessary and we need to keep doing it. Thanks for the inspiration.
Lisa McKinney
Etc. Farms
Fairmount, GA

MORE VIBRATORS!
Another museum with a fairly comprehensive collection of vibrators [The Rakish Angle, November], including some intended for “stimulating the prostate gland,” “treating constipation,” etc. was the late, lamented Museum of Questionable Medical Devices. The Science Museum has reportedly inherited most of that collection and may have some items from it on display.
Doug Gray
Bloomington

BELIEVE, DON’T BELITTLE
Regarding “Message in a Bottle” [The Rakish Angle, June]: In an age when modern science is starting to take a genuine interest in Eastern as well as other alternative healing methods, we should maintain an open mind and curiosity concerning new ideas and not, as the author does, shoot them down with a few sarcastic turns of phrase and hateful judgments. There is nothing superlative about belittling efforts to further our understanding of healing processes and nothing fresh about voicing one’s prejudice, as the author does when she makes fun of the Japanese speaker’s “robotic” accent. (Japanese, being a syllable-timed rather than stress-timed language, like English, has a more regular beat, as do many other of the world’s languages. When speakers of such syllable-timed languages speak English, they sometimes have trouble emulating the correct rhythm.) What does it say about the author’s character to use this accent and the speaker’s heartfelt citation of John Lennon’s “Imagine” lyrics as the concluding proof of the speaker’s folly? The healing potential of water (e.g., water from Lourdes and other pilgrimage sites) is in our ancient collective memory. Modern science is beginning to explain phenomena, such as the communicative potential of water and transmission of energy, through complex theories and lines of reasoning—most promisingly, quantum theory. We should be in awe of what may lie ahead of us in terms of healing potential and understanding of the universe.
Elisabeth Gareis
New York, NY