Spelunker Song

Jan Breslauer’s article “One Man’s Purgatory” (Feb. 14), telling of the new musical concerning the death of Kentucky spelunker Floyd Collins, omitted the musical tradition that the 1925 event spawned.

In referring to exploitation of the tragedy, Breslauer only mentioned the 1951 Billy Wilder film “Ace in the Hole,” without making any reference to the song written by Georgia’s Rev. Andrew Jenkins, a blind preacher and writer of about 800 songs, many of which dealt with newsworthy events of the 1920s.

Jenkins’ song, “The Death of Floyd Collins,” became a huge hit for country music pioneer Vernon Dalhart in 1925 and was widely disseminated through oral tradition, record, and sheet music sales in the southeastern United States.

CARY GINELL

Thousand Oaks