From Big Man

I am writing, first of all, to express my thanks to Emily Hunt for her time, talent and efforts in researching and writing the cover story on me and PACH ("As Big as Ever," Aug. 10). I would also like to express my thanks to the editor for his interest and support, and also, thanks for the great photos, John Blackwell!

Not to be nitpicky, but only in the interests of accuracy and to eliminate misunderstandings, I would like to point out a few things.

1) Most importantly, I want to make it very clear that the Police Accountability Clinic and Helpline (PACH) does not provide legal assistance or referrals. We are not lawyers, nor do we give legal advice. We have very specific purposes, which include documenting reports of police abuse and giving support to community members, which include educating the public through community outreach, presentations of pertinent films, "Know Your Rights" presentations and other events.

2) I am not the founder of PACH, but only one of several founding members. The idea for PACH grew from a workshop I led, one of many workshops which were held after a series of community meetings. These meetings took place with the help of other concerned community members, and without them, and the few dedicated volunteers who have hung in there, PACH would not exist.

3) There are not two but three surviving members of the Black Panther Party. In addition to Bobby Seale and myself, Sherman Forte is one of the six founding members still alive.

4) Finally, in the story, it states my radio show is broadcast from KOWS in Occidental. The correct station is not KOWS but KGGV-LP, 95.1 FM, Guerneville, and the program is streamed through www.kggv.blogspot.com. Again, thank you so much.

Elbert 'Big Man' Howard

Forestville

Drinking, Writing

"Though wineries number in the hundreds, their bottles clinking shoulder-to-shoulder on overcrowded shelves, every day some novitiate leaves a lucrative career to trammel dusky juice out of a heap of black grapes—culled, perhaps, from the same vineyards as dozens other of their bewitched brethren."

Whoa, dude! I know James Knight often waxes rhapsodic about wines in his Swirl columns, but the opening sentence to his latest, entitled "Vinoteca," might make a good argument for Don't Drink and Write. Seriously: How sloshed was he when he wrote this?

Bob Canning

Petaluma

That's nothing. You should see what I write when I'm cold sober.—James Knight

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