"The Columbine Effect," Alan Prendergast, March 22
So Lifetime (known as the "Men Are Pigs" network at my house) wants to produce a miniseries on Columbine that's based on a book written by someone who never actually interviewed anyone who was there. What a great start! While they're at it, why not bring in some co-producers like Bill Maher (who could be in charge of misrepresenting Rachel Scott, Cassie Bernall and other Christians at the school), Oliver Stone (to invent a government-conspiracy angle) and Michael Moore (remember, the national NRA convention was scheduled in Denver that week)? Oh, and Quentin Tarantino, too — it was a mass murder, after all.
Jim Kiel Aurora
I sympathize with the families and friends of the Columbine community whose lives are going to be portrayed for a movie. However, like most Hollywood movies that are centered on true events, there are bound to be vast misinterpretations that anyone who has read Columbine will recognize.
I might be wrong, but I think the purpose of this film is not to immortalize Klebold and Harris, but instead to shed light on the community's response to the tragedy. There is still a lot to be learned from what happened that day, and hopefully this film will cause school administrators across the country to re-evaluate their security measures. And God willing, our crooked politicians will outlaw the sale of firearms for recreational purposes. The film can also bring attention to the causes of Klebold's and Harris's rampage for a generation of students who were too young to remember Columbine, like myself.
Greg Reck
Denver
"Wish You Were Here," Melanie Asmar, March 8
Melanie Asmar's story on Aurora is a great read! In terms of the Visit Aurora game plan, who knew? But it sounds as though they have a humble yet enthusiastic strategy, and I wish them the best.
In terms of Aurora's, uh, "interesting" history, though, I do know more than most. Lived there as a kid (on post when my dad was stationed at Fitzsimons); great memories. Like the fact that there were plenty of rattlesnakes on the playground outside the old army barracks that served as our elementary school. Like the fact that even though we lived in very modest quarters, the view out my folks' bedroom window stretched all the way to the mountains; the peaks looked so close you were tempted to lean out to try to touch them. Like the fact that when the phone man came to install our second phone, he made a big point of telling us that he had just uninstalled it from President Eisenhower's room at the hospital (Ike had just been discharged). My mother loved that story, and that phone — a classic rotary-dial desk model: olive drab color, of course.
Wish You Were Here, indeed!
Tom Beckett
Aurora resident, 1954-'57
