ARMSTRONG PARK

You are right on with your (“Weekly Beat”) article on Armstrong Park. I moved here eight years ago and opened a bed & breakfast. I had been active in neighborhood associations in other cities I had lived in and jumped right in here. The pettiness you describe about people who didn’t get their way when something good was suggested has got to stop. This city will always be seen as a third world country unless people start looking past their own noses and decide that doing something good for the city and for all citizens in New Orleans is better.

—Jess Beaty, New Orleans, LA

I normally totally agree with your opinions, but I have to strongly disagree that a fence keeps a park “safer.” The safest parks in this city, Audubon and City Park, don’t have fences. Just like you need “eyes on the street” to keep a neighborhood safe, you need people in the park to keep a park safe. Park users with good intentions are afraid to enter a park with a fence because they know that there is no easy exit if they encounter one of the bad guys. If you took the entire fence down, the park becomes more “public” property and is better watched and used. This is one reason that Audubon and City Park are considered safe and have high user rates, and parks like Washington Square and Armstrong have greater concentrations of loiterers and troublemakers.

—Angie Green, New Orleans, LA

MORE SEA CRUISE

Frankie Ford has expressed his side of the “Sea Cruise” story often, so I simply gave a portion of Huey’s side of it, as Huey personally expressed it to me. I also spoke to James Rivers and Robert Parker, both of whom said they played the original “Sea Cruise” session. Of course, there is an existing and available recording of “Sea Cruise” featuring vocals by Huey Smith and Gerri Hall. In fact, 75- year-old Gerri was living a short walk from the OffBeat office as of a few months ago. So at least four people associated with the “Sea Cruise” session, other than Frankie and Cosmo, are here to give their accounts. I suspect Frankie never knew what happened behind the scenes. The song obviously was intended to be a Huey Smith and the Clowns record, but 1959, of course, was the era of the white teen idol. From a business point of view, Johnny Vincent and Joe Caronna—and Cosimo Matassa—saw a chance to exploit that lucrative market.

—John Wirt, Baton Rouge, LA

POTLUCK

Thank you so much for the historical treasure trove of old OffBeats. I appreciated the 48 Hours of Music edition. What a great idea. I am a big Paul Sanchez fan, and the picture of him getting a haircut circa 1993 was awesome, I think that may be the only time I have seen him without a hat! I especially appreciate the personal touch of keeping track of what issues I receive, so I will not hesitate to order once again.

—Maureen Rice, Brooklyn, NY

I was a little hesitant about this potluck deal, thinking that I would get mostly out of date concert announcements and reviews. But the issues were fantastic with timeless articles on Danny Barker, Mardi Gras Indians, Storyville, Buckwheat Zydeco, and Amédé Ardoin, a photo essay of New Orleans music from 1983, a collection of Vic and Nat’ly cartoons, and a lexicon of New Orleans music (“from A to Z”). I highly recommend this to anyone with an interest in New Orleans culture and history. And I’m gonna order more.

—Tom Barrett, California, MD

In the September issue, we neglected to mention that Up From the Cradle of Jazz was written by Jonathan Foose and Tad Jones in addition to Jason Berry. We regret the error.—ED.