LETTERS

STEVE CHRISTENSON’S FUR PAS

Your February article about Steve Christenson was so repulsive to me that I could hardly read it. When I turned the page and saw his family pictured with that leopard, I actually got tears in my eyes. Do you realize that it’s possible our grandchildren will only know about leopards, tigers and elephants from what they read in encyclopedias, thanks to people like Mr. Christenson? In a world where you can hardly wear or say the “F” word, you certainly had a lot of nerve and I can assure you you have lost readers.

MARY A. WEIR

DALLAS



“It’s A Jungle Out There” is disturbing to me because it is more well-placed in Field & Stream, where you know you’ll be looking at pictures of guns, dead animals, atrocities against living creatures and that macho “I’ve gotta kill an animal” type attitude. If I could find out what this man [Steve Christenson] is selling, I will not buy his product or shop at his store.

Colleen Brenner

Bedford



I want to express my disgust over your profile of Steve Christenson in “It’s A Jungle Out There.” You not only had the poor taste and lack of social conscience to write admiringly of Christenson’s slaughter of African wildlife, but you pictured Christenson and his family standing over the body of a beautiful leopard. The leopard is a threatened and in some areas endangered species.

Author Craig Hanley attempts a pathetic defense by citing Christenson’s “significant fund raising” for certain unnamed conservation charities, and Christenson himself claims, “I’ve given back more than I’ve ever taken as a hunter.”

Do they believe that a large-enough donation can justify the senseless slaughter of irreplaceable wildlife? Most disturbing, though, you fail to provide a complete list of the various species that have fallen prey to Christenson’s bloody pastime, instead only referencing his many medals and “world hunting records.”

I can understand Christenson’s reluctance to be specific about the animals he has killed besides the leopard and eight African spiral-homed antelope. What I will never understand is how he calls himself a “sportsman.” If the challenge lies in the tracking and pursuit, then once the animal is in your sights, wouldn’t it be just as effective to click the shutter of a camera as the trigger of a gun?

V. CRAIG CANTRELL

DALLAS



FOOD FOR THOUGHT

I ’ VE ALWAYS DREAMED OF THAT WONDERFUL day when the media would begin attacking and feeding on its own. Your latest issue even dined on two of your finest, Marty Griffin and Dale Hansen [“How I Got the Hook” and “Did Marty Griffin Get Conned,” March].

Keep this inspiring trend going so that some fine day we might be rid of all of you!

MARK S. THOMPSON

COPPELL