JONES FOR RESPECT Just read "The Casting Ouch" by Gregory Gilderman ...

SPECT

Just read "The Casting Ouch" by Gregory Gilderman and Andrew Lorin (10/20). I'm sure you are going to get boatloads of mail about this article, given how many of us struggling artists (or "aspiring actors"-but I'll kick anyone in the shins who calls me that after seven years of working in New York) there are, but I did want to thank the authors for writing it, and to thank you for publishing it. It is disgusting how many people are looking to take money from actors, who almost never have much to begin with. It is so great to see something like this published outside of a trade paper.

Hopefully it will give folks a glimpse of what an icky row we actors hoe sometimes; the degree to which it's full of uncertainty and pitfalls; and how the perception that success in show business is sudden and unpredictable and totally unquantifiable not only belittles the discipline and shrewdness and love of their craft for its own sake that so many actors have needed to survive, but leads to people leaping into this business with stars in their eyes and nary a clue in their heads.

Amanda Jones, Manhattan

BOOK OF TWINK 69:1-9

I want to point out a factual error in "Save a Jew, Save Yourself!" by Mark Ames (10/13). He states "...they [Evangelical Christians] make a lot of noise about Jesus' opposition to homosexuality." Nowhere in the four gospels does Jesus explicitly oppose homosexuality. I defy Ames to cite chapter and verse. He can't. The condemnation of homosexuality among Christians comes primarily from the Old Testament as well as some writings of St. Paul.

Breck Ardery, Manhattan

SEE YOU IN THE BOOTH

As a former county chairman of New Yorkers for Goldwater, who is currently working on the Kerry campaign as a volunteer, I am most gratified to see an intelligent article make the case to defeat George W. Bush (William Bryk, "The Conservative Case Against George W. Bush," 8/4). His arrogant infringement upon individual rights, his big government spending and delayed taxation, his lies about Iraq, his meddling with the constitution are all right there among the top reasons for his defeat by people who are true patriots regardless of political labels. Thanks for a great article.

Robert R. Alexander, Bethel Park, PA

DICK AND LYNNE'S NON-SECRET

Oh, come on Russ Smith, get real ("Drafts and Dykes," 10/20). There's nothing new