He Didn't Jump
He was a mensch: Francisco Alvarado's April 17 story, "The Dead Among Us," got it wrong. Anyone who knew Brandon Ledford, the 20-year-old who "jumped" off the balcony, knows he loved life and would never have done this.
Julianne
Deland
She Was One of Many
Others deaths were tragic too: Sadly, the story (and backstory) of Adrianna Aurigemma as described by Deirdra Funcheon ("Adrianna's Fall," April 17) is something of a repeated scenario where only the name of the victim changes. I can recall off the top of my head two other local cases in the past few years where I have lost two friends to a falling balcony "accident" that might or might not have had to do with drugs. Then there's the current unsolved mysteries of two former Miami Beach residents meeting their untimely deaths — one sitting alone dead in a chair in a Vegas suite, and the other, a dear friend of mine, who somehow got run over on the side of a busy Houston highway.
As heartbreaking as these situations are, the common denominator is always the character of the so-called friends around when these circumstances occur. Bad people are bad friends. Bad friends plus drugs plus a dangerous or harmful location equal fatal accidents. People really don't understand the sobering reality of how true the adage "You are the company you keep" really is!
I think there's been little to no closure in the incidents I mentioned. But perhaps Adrianna's friends and family will find that feeling of peace that eludes us loved ones left behind and trying to understand the hows and whys.
Veronica Graglia
Miami Beach
Her best bud writes: Adrianna was my best friend and she has been taken from me and her family. She is missed and loved more than anyone will ever know, and the truth will only set you free! I love and miss you, sister.
Stephanie
Boca Raton
A Bulldog of a Letter
He should read this week's review: The barbecue at Bulldog as described in Lee Klein's April 17 story, "A Dog with Bite," is to barbecue what Cuban food is to Pollo Tropical. It's food-court quality at best. Bla-bla-bland. Pulled pork is shredded to sawdust and dipped in a ketchupy sauce served on potato rolls from Publix. Yeeech. C'mon, Lee! Your review is as watered down as the food flavors here. This so-called Top Chef is catering to bottom feeders who are lining up for their 15 minutes of proximity to Howie's Sweat Equity. At least Beach BBQ tastes like the place owns a smoker and not a bottle liquid smoke. This is the stuff of steam tables and shopping malls. Pass!
Myles Roberts
North Miami
A SunPost Obit
This is it, baby: On March 5, I read "The SunPost Is Setting," by Kyle Munzenrieder and Chuck Strouse. At that time, the SunPost was still appearing Thursdays, but with noticeably poor quality — having dropped its movie reviewer and not running any in-depth features.
For the past two weeks, there have been no papers in the racks. The last issue was quite lame, with a tease of a headline about Mengele being alive and an article that showed it all to be conjecture. I called the paper's number, which I got from a webpage that hasn't been updated since February, and it has been disconnected.
I know all newspapers are suffering, with reduced ads and our worsening depression that is still being misspelled as "recession." Just today the Herald had some more bleak news of its own financial woes and cutbacks. But you would think that a paper could see it coming and give a final edition saying goodbye to readers. I might have missed it, but I didn't notice anything like that in the last edition of the SunPost.
Perhaps New Times can write the obit for the SunPost. That is, if you are not busy writing your own.
Rob Boyte
Miami Beach
