The Beginning of Swing

Re “Benny Goodman: Adventures in the Kingdom of Swing” on KCET Channel 28 (“ ‘Benny Goodman’: A Definitive Work,” Dec. 1): In the Great Depression year of 1935, the dispirited Goodman and his orchestra headed west from Denver and finally arrived at the Palomar Ballroom on the corner of West Third and Vermont in Los Angeles. It was on that hot night of Aug. 21 that Goodman’s band exploded into motion our unique swing era--an era still heard on late-night radio and in big bands that still tour our nation and other countries.

I suggest that, like Hollywood’s Walk of Fame plaques commemorating movie stars and entertainers, the City of Los Angeles erect at Third and Vermont an engraved plaque commemorating Goodman’s dramatic start of America’s swing era.

KENNETH LLOYD LARSON

Los Angeles