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In his description of artist Tyree Guyton's Heidelberg Project in Detroit [AMERICAN SCENE, Aug. 25], Ron Stodghill II noted that Heidelberg Street is festooned in polka dots. Stodghill said that neighbors weren't thrilled by other aspects of the project, including the thousands of old shoes displayed in the area. But support from neighborhood residents, local businesses and government groups far surpasses any dissatisfaction. The Heidelberg Project provides a stimulating, relatively safe stretch in Detroit's inner city where residents and visitors can play, create, learn, sit and think. Many of the artworks, constructed by Guyton with the help of children and adults, are collective responses to important current or historical events. While it is true that the polka-dot logo recalls jelly beans, it is also a symbol of the Heidelberg Project's fundamental goal: to generate a healthy, heterogeneous community in Detroit. JENENNE WHITFIELD, Executive Director Heidelberg Project Detroit
I had an opportunity this summer to visit the Heidelberg Project and found myself standing in the middle of the street in awe of the beauty before me. The thousands of used shoes (soles) represent all the lost souls in Purgatory hoping for mankind's prayers to help them ascend to heaven. Guyton's polka-dot theme is seen everywhere, sending the message "I don't care what race you are, if you are black or white or even polka dot, God's love sees no colors." JUDITH ZABAWSKI Sterling Heights, Mich.
NOT-SO-RARE STAMPS
What you forgot to mention in your item on the special-interest, or collector, stamps being sold by the International Collectors Society [NOTEBOOK, Aug. 25] is that these issues, although legal, are often vastly misrepresented. Stamps like the ones you showed of the White House cat Socks are sometimes advertised as being rare or a great opportunity for investment. They are neither. They are printed in tiny countries at the request of the I.C.S., and only enough are used in the country of origin to qualify them as "genuine postally used." The block of nine Socks stamps, which sells for $12.95, costs a small fraction of a dollar to print. SHERWOOD J. SYVERSON, President Lakes Stamp Club Lakewood, Wash.
MOUSEKETEERS COMPLAIN
As a cast member of the original Mouseketeers of Mickey Mouse Club TV fame, I take exception to your lumping together all the recent lawsuits against Disney and referring to us Mouseketeers as "turning nasty" [PEOPLE, Sept. 1]. It is truly unfortunate that former Mouseketeer Billie Jean Matay (or Billie Jean Beanblossom, as her fans and I knew her) was a victim of robbery in a Disneyland parking lot. This horrible incident was never taken lightly, and although the case was dismissed, I don't believe the judge had to resist the temptation "to call the case Goofy." Only time will tell how worthy is the suit by former Mouseketeers for royalties they believe are owed them for the TV show. Don't paint a frivolous picture before the facts and outcome are revealed. MARY ESPINOSA Long Beach, Calif.