OCCULT OF PERSONALITIES
Thank you so very much for the write-up about my work in the 1992 Best of Miami issue ("Best Psychic," March 25). The item presented the word witch in a positive light, which I do appreciate. It is refreshing to see media coverage of the craft that is not the fear-inducing sensationalism often seen.
There is one point which I feel needs further clarification. The efforts with my partner, Mary E. Shirk, are responsible for the psychic fairs, newsletter, parties, et cetera. In all fairness, any considerations towards me in these areas should also include Mary.
Again, many thanks. Witches believe that everything you do comes back to you threefold. May the generosity you have shown thus be restored by three.
S. Cheryl Mosteller
(Lady Phoenix)
Miami
WE BEAN WHAT WE SAY
Come on, New Times. Your "Best of Miami" issue falls short of communicating to your readers the opportunities present in the Magic City for the "Shops & Wares" category.
The "Best Place to Buy Coffee" is not in Costa Rica! It's in Coconut Grove, where Coco Bean offers consumers gourmet coffees and teas in a specialty-store environment. If your "Best of" editors spent more time researching the local possibilities for consumers than the local nightlife/clubs, your third "Best of" issue might be worth its weight in print.
John Mendez, co-owner
Coco Bean Fine Coffees & Teas
Coconut Grove
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT, MAS O MENOS
Perhaps I'm being too picky or just behaving like an exacting semanticist, but I find the latest Mas Canosa/CANF (and now Cuban terrorists have been blamed!) tour de force against the Miami Herald quite puzzling. I am referring to the paid advertisements that appear on some of the city's Metrobuses stating what the former feels about the latter ("Best Bumper Sticker," March 25).
The English-language message version proclaims, "I don't believe the Miami Herald," meaning that the speaker either doubts or questions what the Herald publishes. What appears to be the same message in Spanish, however, reads, "I don't believe in the Herald," which infers that the speaker lacks faith in said publication. Although both messages were intended to be the same, they are totally different. Maybe it was a slip of a translator's pen or another terrorist/pinko ploy. Whatever the explanation may be, it certainly sounds like Mas Canosa, the CANF, or whoever placed those ads is speaking with a bifurcated tongue.
Maybe New Times can find out who in tarnation is saying what and to whom, or "quienes," as the case may be.
Carmen Dieguez
Miami
PANDER MOAN
As a Cuban-American, I find Jim Mullin's views in "The Cubanization of Xavier Suarez" (March 18) offensive. You seem to feel the only "good Cuban" is an "un-Cuban Cuban." Apparently, public figures merit support only as long as they themselves don't support Cuban causes. The moment they do, they become unidimensional simpletons pandering to "hard-core Cubans."
I can recall politicians being praised for defending their (or their constituents') ethnicity, religious background, or national origin. As mayor of New York City, Ed Koch, for one, often took very vocal positions against Congress, the president, and others for policies unfavorable to Israel - without the New York Times coming down on him.
Do not construe this letter as a defense of Suarez, Mas Canosa, or the Cuban Committee Against Defamation - all of which I strongly oppose for a variety of reasons I won't elaborate here.
By your article's standards, you yourself act as nothing more than the Herald's echo. And, expanding on your closing, in politics as in journalism, perception is reality.
Lorenzo P. Perez
Miami
THE MORGAN GRINDER
I'm writing in response to Roberta Morgan's March 18 review, "Family Bladders," about the play Family Secrets at the Coconut Grove Playhouse.
When she writes, "If jokes about bladder control in the elderly and cervical dilations appeal to you, then rush right over," she missed the point of one of the play's sweetest moments. When 80-year-old Rose disclosed to her new love, Milton, that she lost control and wet her pants, he responded that she simply had an accident and didn't know she was having such a good time, and then proceeded to help her up and stayed close by her side so she wouldn't be any more embarrassed when leaving the restaurant. The next day he asked Rose to marry him. His love for her went beyond any physical limitations she may have, and this was the point of that scene.
How could Roberta Morgan say that the childbirth portrayal was phony? All the characters were very convincing - especially the at-home-childbirth scene. Through all Kahari's painful contractions, agonizing body movements, and screaming requests to the baby, like, "Get out!" - it couldn't have been more convincing and funny. The scene made you really believe in her comment that some mothers die during childbirth because it's preferable.
The entire audience was filled with laughter, as well as moments of sadness, as author-actress Sherry Glaser transformed into the five distinct characters.
Lynda Diane
North Miami Beach
BEST CHRONOLOGICAL MISCALCULATION
Due to a typesetting error, some of the pages in last week's Best of Miami issue were printed with the incorrect date. The correct date is March 25-31.
