LET’R RIP

A Norm For All Seasons



“Major League Mouth” (November) was a terrific account of a wonderful, hardworking individual. Norm Hitzges. But a “non-ex-jock”? Not quite. Check the rosters of the San Antonio Toros (San Antonio’s pro football team) in the late Sixties, and it should reveal that our favorite sports personality was once a place-kicker.

SCOTT G. WALKER

WILMETTE, IL



As a member of the I-am-not-a-jock club and a displaced Dallasite now stuck in Sacramento, the capitol of the mindless sportscasters, I have truly come to miss Norm every morning. Perhaps he would consider doing a national sports talk show. Those of us stranded in isolated areas of this nation look to Norm as our savior from witless, tedious, and irresponsible sports ’reporters.” I’ll even put up with his funny little laugh! Go get ’em. Norm!

M. GREG MULLANAX

SACRAMENTO, CA



I don’t intend to read “Major League Mouth.” I got a stomach full of Hitzges in just a short time on the Texas Rangers broadcasts. It has been a pleasant year, turning on the Rangers and not having to listen to him.

I have been a baseball fan since before he was bom. He doesn’t know enough about the game to be broadcasting play-by-play, and that voice is terrible. I would suggest you give him a foreign assignment with a oneway ticket.

JOE HUGHES

WICHITA FALLS



Disturbed In TheBurbs

“The Burbs!” (November) paints a creative story of Dallas-area cities doing their best to succeed, but then came page 59. Who do you think you are? Has God ordained you with power to make decisions concerning who is valuable to this world, and who is of no worth? The remarks made by Richard West concerning Balch Springs and Seagoville on page 59 are uncalled for. They are vicious, and on the edge of being slander.

We teach our children that they can be anything they want to be, and then you call them “hog and hominy” farmers, from the “hog-jowl cracker country of Balch Springs and Seagoville.” You would never get out of court for such discriminating statements if they had been directed toward the blacks, the Hispanics, the Asians, or any other segment of our community.

JERRY N. WOO LEY

SEAGOVILLE SUBURBIA NEWS



As businessmen and women, we feel that your article will prejudice those businesses with future interest in our community. As a result of the attack by Mr. West, it is a strong possibility that developers and businesses who have expressed interest in the Seagoville area will table plans for expansion.

JOE ZOPPE

PRESIDENT, SEAGOVILLE CHAMBER

OF COMMERCE

Granted, we have areas of town where low-income families reside. None of these is any more of an eyesore than certain parts of the city of Dallas, from which D so proudly derives its name. At times I wonder if your magazine, along with other publications which supposedly serve Dallas as a whole, has forgotten that your city extends further south than Northwest Highway. Like some testy old patriarch, the image makers have symbolically disowned the black sheep of the family-those sections of the city that don’t live up to their spit-and-polish prime time TV self-concept. No wonder the citizens of Oak Cliff are in favor of dean-nexation.

I am a police officer, and I have firsthand knowledge of the crime statistics for my city. I would feel more comfortable walking the streets of Seagoville at night than any neighborhood I can think of in Dallas.

DEBRAD. LITTLEJOHN

SEAGOVIILE

When a rodeo performer enters the Mes-quite Championship Rodeo Arena, he voluntarily risks injury, but the animals have no choice. When the rodeo ends, the music stops and the crowd leaves thinking it has had a glimpse of Western life. The animals, back in their pens, are still suffering. There are broken bones, raw and bleeding wounds, splintered or broken horns.

What goes on at the Mesquite Championship Rodeo is neither entertainment nor sport. The facility features exhibitions of suffering inflicted on animals. How can anyone be proud of such cruelty?

J. A. ROMERO

MESQUITE



The country club, 27-hole golf course, tennis club, and community pool are just a few of our tangible amenities that are a great source of pride to Trophy Club residents. Could it be that our award for the “Most Boring Burb Address” caused you to look no further than the address itself?

VALERIE WILLIAMSON

TROPHY CLUB



There are two reasons I never could have made the exact statement Richard West attributed to me in your November issue, although I don’t argue with the substance of the story or the quote.

West quoted me as saying “Irving is the top suburb in the Metroplex.” I told him that Irving has done a great job of economic development, planning, and building a diverse balanced community. I’m sure I never said that it is the “top” suburb in the area, because I work with 31 other cities in Dallas County, and that wouldn’t be very prudent of me, would it?

The real clue that the quote was slightly doctored is that those who know me know I never, ever use the word “Metroplex.” I’m from a place called Dallas, Dallas-Fort Worth, or North Texas, not the Metroplace, You wouldn’t want to edit a magazine called “M,” would you?

LEE F. JACKSON COUNTY JUDGE DALLAS



Mack Factor



If Laura Miller’s analysis is correct (“Mack Vines and The Weirdness Factor,’” November), I would respectfully suggest that a forthcoming article in D Magazine explore the hiring practices at City Hall. It would be interesting to know what political objective was served by hiring a police chief who could be predicted to self-destruct in such a short time. Can we expect the present administration to choose a candidate fit for the task this time?

KAREN L. MCKINNEY DALLAS

Sharing The Blame

Re: “A Pound Puppy’s Tale,” November. Through a set of tragic circumstances, a stray dog-wandering with no tags or identification of any kind, was found by Beth Johnson and given over to the Garland Humane Society on a Friday. This dog. due to real problems, was reluctantly euthanized on the following Monday. On Tuesday. Mike Wallace came to the shelter looking for his dog. convinced that the dog brought by Ms. Johnson was his. He was naturally distraught when he came to believe that his dog had been euthanized.

It is a time for rejoicing when an animal is brought in with current tags, for then it is a relatively swift process to trace the owner. Without identity, a pet’s future is always in jeopardy. It is not known for a certainty that the dog brought in by Beth Johnson belonged to Mr. Wallace, but by failing to protect his pet, Mr. Wallace must in all conscience bear his share for its loss.

PAT STEHR

VOLUNTEER AND BOARD MEMBER

GARLAND HUMANE SOCIETY