POP’S SMALL-TOWN BOYS

I can’t begin to tell you how disappointed I am to discover that neither Ruben Blades (“Ruben Blades Swims Against the Salsa,” by Gregg Barrios, May 11) or John Cougar Mellencamp is God.

You ruined my day. Are there any contenders in the wings waiting for you guys to prick their inflated balloons?

Blades’ message is heavier and more politically correct when he says, “You don’t have to negate your roots to succeed,” compared to Mellencamp’s cornpone-populist stance of “keeping in touch with your roots.”

I only wish you had run both articles side by side--that way a strange blend of pop sociology (Calendar Marxist art?) could have been more evident to even your dullest readers.

kisses and Angst

ESTHER DEL RIO GINSBERG

Hollywood