Near To Us

The cartoon you ran regarding Timothy Near and the San Jose Rep (DeCinzo, Sept. 19) is particularly offensive and unbecoming your paper.

For those of us that believe that Arts are a critical foundation to our society, Timothy Near has, for the last 20 years, been a magnificent leader in building a vibrant arts community in San Jose. The community should be forever grateful for what she has achieved and the legacy which she will leave when she does move on to other aspects of her career in a couple of years' time.

Further, the implication that the Rep is a burning wreck couldn't be further from the truth. Over the last year the staff and board, led by Nick Nichols and Timothy Near, have begun execution of a strong recovery plan. In this first year the Rep has beaten all of its financial targets, while at the same time maintaining the excellence on stage that is the hallmark of the Rep.

Full financial recovery will not be achieved overnight, but with the continued committed support of everyone involved, including the City, it will be achieved and the Rep will remain the shining light of what is good in San Jose.

Chris Worrall, Board Member and Past President, San Jose Repertory Theatre

Finding Futzie

Thanks, Stephen Kessler, for your recent and informative article on my old friend Futzie Nutzle ("Jazz Ink," Cover Story, Sept. 5).

I lived in Santa Cruz from 1974 to 1986, and in 1971 and 1973 I had seen some of "Nutty's" art, and when I moved to Santa Cruz, we hooked up. We both had some memorable times ("The Honest John brothers, Frank and Ernest!") and a lot of art projects, exhibitions, and other antics were shared.

I had also assisted henry humble a bit during the early 1980s, prior to his untimely death in the late '80s. Thanks, too, Stephen, for the great chronology of Nutzle's life and times. ... (Interestingly enough, after 20 years and via the Internet, I had just coincidentally found his phone number and telephoned Nutty—a day before finding and reading this article, which he mentioned!)

Phillip Hefferton was also a good friend for all of those years, and we two/too did many art projects together during the 1980s.

So, a lot of good memories, good art and good times. Muchos gracias!

Freeman Zygote, (a.k.a. Douglas Scott Treado), Newfield, N.Y.

When We Were Wet

Thanks for the great update on Futzie Nutzle! I've been a fan since seeing his work in Wet Magazine in the '70s. I'm currently teaching illustration at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and Nutzle is on my list of "historical" illustrators for research projects.

Now I'm dying to see his paintings.

Professor Bill Shaffer, Lincoln, Neb.

Are You Ready For Some Futbol?

Re "Balls to the Wall" (Silicon Alleys, Aug. 29): Great Article! I've never understood why sports journalists in this country are so threatened by soccer. It's a sport played by some of the greatest athletes in the world, it takes strength, endurance, finesse and passion to play it. You'd think these guys would eat that stuff up. Anyway thanks, great points keep 'em coming.

Mike Domasica, Chicago, Ill.

Score Card

Nice article by Mr. Singh about the irrationality of soccer bashing. I'd like to add a point about scoring. The average soccer game has 2–3 goals in about a time span of 120 minutes (90 played plus 15 for half time plus 5 minutes added time.) In two hours of baseball (average game takes around 3 hours) one would expect to see about 3–5 runs scored. In two hours of football, one would expect to see around 3–4 touchdowns scored. In the NHL, the playoffs can be gripping and low scoring. Some games go 2–3 hours with two or three goals and we love those games. Therefore, it's hard to argue that soccer is boring because of lack of scoring when goals per minute aren't a whole lot different than scores per minute in other sports.

Tom D., West Vancouver, BC

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