Letters: True Zoo

Reading Tad Friend's article on Disney's Animal Kingdom feels — as I assume the author intended — like having one's toenails pulled ("Please Don't Oil the Animatronic Warthog,"May). Friend, however, omits the most salient observation: that Disney's "takeaway" is quite different from the public's. It is neither to feel good about animals nor to feel good about providing people with the opportunity to feel good about animals. It is simply cold, hard cash.

Lovers of irony should have a field day with the multigazillion-dollar Animal Kingdom. Just north of its site is Wekiwa Springs State Park, where visitors, unimpressed with Disney's packaged, cartoon-based animal silliness, can swim and snorkel in one of the largest and clearest freshwater springs in the world or canoe in the company of real birds, reptiles, and amphibians — and the fishing's pretty good, too. The absurdity of paying through the nose and standing in line to experience entirely specious versions of the animal world while a lovely, genuinely exciting slice of reality is only 20 minutes away was not lost even on my six-year-old.

Friend's article made me consider the expression "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." Perhaps rather than criticize Disney's Animal Kingdom for its failure to imitate the natural world accurately, we should embrace it as a confirmation that all people — not just naturalists — are fascinated with the strange and awesome animals with which we share our planet. Those of us fortunate enough to get outside and experience the real thing should allow everyone else to enjoy what limited imitation of nature Disney provides.

Waste Not

Thank you for your balanced article on the subject of radioactive waste storage ("Nuclear Weapons Waste? Right This Way,"Dispatches, May). It may be true that only 2 percent of the nation's nuclear waste can be stored at New Mexico's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, but that's better than nothing. If I invented a medicine that could cure 2 percent of AIDS cases, I'd be a hero.

Good and Better Deeds

I was shocked that I was essentially quoted as saying that I am the father of the mountain bike ("Allow Me to Be the First to Congratulate You on Your Stunning Achievement,"May). I've never made such a claim. In fact, many people can attest that I've refuted it. Moreover, I made clear to the author my view that mountain bike history is pretty inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.

In response to your article on stunning achievements, and specifically around-the-globe sailor Karen Thorndike, I would like to set the record straight. What sailor Pat Henry did was a great accomplishment, but it's not fair to compare these two voyages, which took two vastly different routes. The one element they do have in common is that both adventurers were self-financed — that in itself is an astonishing feat.

Wave Theories

In your boggling tale of the quest to surf the decade's biggest swell ("Something Wicked This Way Comes," May), you thoughtfully included a detailed anatomy of a very big wave. Nifty how-to guide, should I ever want to tackle a 60-footer. But frankly, a psych test would have been a little more appropriate.

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