Waves of Angry Response Greet Rodney the Surfer

Rodney King on the cover of the magazine (“Rodney’s Long, Rough Ride,” by Ed Leibowitz, March 28). And with a surfboard! What were you thinking of? This bum is nothing but a common ghetto criminal.

Clifford R. Smith

Long Beach

*

Perhaps there is something redeeming about this disgrace to humankind, but I don’t know what it is. All his life King has been a lawbreaking ne’er-do-well. His drunken spree got him more air time than anyone except the president. His willful acts were a factor in bringing death and destruction to the community. Now he flaunts his wealth on the magazine cover.

Who’s next?

Barry Hildebrand

Rancho Palos Verdes

*

I was deeply touched by Leibowitz’s profile of King. He truly captured the essence of a man accidentally thrust into L.A.’s Zeitgeist, trying to do the best he can. Although King may have stumbled and fallen at times, his compassion and courage should be an inspiration to us all.

Diane Mooney

Los Angeles

*

The answer to King’s question, “Can we all get along?” is simple: It’s no, and it’s because of people like him. If he’d have obeyed a few simple rules like most of the rest of us do, he’d be getting along fine.

Carl Carver

*

Can’t you find an African American more deserving to write about? We hear so much about King, Dennis Rodman and Mike Tyson. Why not focus on positive role models?

J. Floth

Tustin

*

If King had done something good in the wake of the tragedy, maybe we’d be interested. But he’s been involved with domestic violence (a subject I feel strongly about) more than once--hardly justification for putting him on the cover.

Deepa Lama

*

Seeing King’s picture on the cover prompted me to send the magazine directly into the trash, so I can’t comment on the content of the article. But I got the impression that the magazine must be hard up for quality stories.

Rick Zaleski

San Juan Capistrano

*

To those offended by the cover photo of King and the subsequent article, I say: “Get a life!” It looks as though he has one.

Rosemary C. Watson

Los Angeles

*

So Rodney King surfs. Cool! The waves are a great equalizer. If King had surfed back then, would his plea to Los Angeles have been: “Can’t we all just get a longboard?”

Bruce Saltz

Long Beach

*

We deserved this insight into the life of Rodney King, whose plea for peace was burned into L.A.’s collective memory.

The magazine has done a service to its newspaper, and the cover was the best in my memory of the magazine.

M. Schlageter

Los Angeles