Manson’s Madness Still Brings Pain

I am appalled by the attention that Charles Manson receives in the media these days (“Behind the Madness,” Aug. 8). Why do you call attention to this murderer?

I was 9 years old when this occurred. I still, to this day, don’t know much about the victims. I am sure that when Mr. Manson finally passes into his eternal hell, we will (once again) know more about him and his death than we will ever know about Sharon Tate and the other victims.

MARY GAFNER

Tustin

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Theo Wilson should have taken the time to reread “Helter Skelter” before putting pen to paper.

Aug. 9, 1969, is a date forever embedded in the minds of Angelenos old enough to remember the terror and fear that swept the city in the wake of the carnage caused by Charles Manson and his band of psychos.

For Wilson to attempt a flip, comedic piece that bespoke of a bunch of old boys enjoying an exciting, illicit weekend is truly appalling.

Quotes such as “Oh, that’s just old Charlie yakking,” along with depictions of the trial with its “dropouts, druggies and flower children” as representing “the whole West Coast at is zaniest’ equates to some of the most tasteless journalism I have read in a long, long time.

BETTE AMSLER

Beverly Hills