To the editors:

This letter is in protest to the terrible insults made against Federico Garcia Lorca in the review of Asi que Pasen Cinco Anos [Once Five Years Pass] in your newspaper the Reader [March 29].

It is obvious that Mr. Valeo has no idea of who Lorca was and sadly enough will never appreciate the great inspiration this man is to us, the Spaniards. Maybe Mr. Valeo will never understand and be inspired by Lorca but we find it unjust that other young students like ourselves will miss the chance of being touched by this great poet. The only thing Mr. Valeo cared to find out about Lorca was that he was an internationally recognized poet and playwright. But has he ever read “Llanto por Ignacio Sanchez Mejias,” “Romancero Gitano,” “Bodas de sangre,” “Yerma,” “Poet in New York”? (At least, he could have read that.) Lorca’s works are difficult, they require us to think, but if we have the courage to enter into his world we find a deeper meaning in life. Mr. Valeo, we are afraid to lament, did not do his homework; if he had he would have found something profoundly meaningful, but instead, he decided to limit himself to ignorance. Our biggest regret is that, we don’t care how bad the production might have been, Lorca’s message is so strong that it would have gotten through. That we are sure of.

We hope in the future your critics do something called research before making such shrewd remarks that only reflect the frustration of their own existence.

Pilar Mercedes de la Riva Yglesias, Sabina Sanchez Fernandez, Pilar Miguez Sanchez, Guillerma Cano Gomez, Mayte Cuervo Nistal, Elena Bravo Nieto, Beatriz Novo Alvarez, Auer Breitez Gonzalez, Eviana Hernandez, Luise Rodriguez, Caty del Rio Navarro, Carmen Alonso, Cristina Lopez R., M. Guerre, Isabel Blanco, Jesus Fernandez, Moutse Hernandez, Sonia Rodriguez, Maria Guerrero, Teresa Cardoso, Mercedes Gomez Hernandez, Josefa Rodriguez, Maria Elena Pedrero, Marta Perez Vadillo, Paz Perez, Pilar Mercedes Iglesias, Rafael de la Riva Sanchez, Noria Gordillo Rosado, Sonia Gracia Curiel, Jesus Escudero Fernandez, Ana Sanchez-Grande, D. Rodriguez Casares, Belen Hernandez Fuentes, Pilar Santiago Navarro, Carmen Artiles S., Jesus Mencias, Sonia Alija Garcia, Manrique Garcia, Denes Bello, Cristina Suisdedos Domingues, Jose Martenusio, Carmen Reinoso Tello, Carmen de Celis Leon, Carmino Ferrero Garcia, Eva Vila Alonso, Jose Martinez Lugo, Angeles Beltran, Pastora Miycora, Isabel Rodriguez, Rosa Martin

Salamanca, Spain

Tom Valeo replies:

I certainly did not mean to insult Federico Garcia Lorca in my review, and I sincerely apologize to all who were offended or upset by my words. I fully agree that Lorca is one of Spain’s greatest writers, but believe me, his message, strong as it may be, did not come through in the production I reviewed.