Andrew Scutro did a very, very good job of providing an overview of what Esalen is--no easy task ["Esalen, Inc." Nov. 14-20]. I do have a couple small points I''d like to clarify.

While my Father, Esalen cofounder, Dick Price, was a "former mental patient who sought an alternative form and place for treatment for others," he was much more as well. He graduated with honors from Stanford and did graduate work at Harvard. His interests were extremely wide and much of what was brought to Esalen was directly related to his constant continuing of his own education.

I also spoke in the article about Esalen''s long evolution towards adapting "normal" business practices, and that if Esalen had been audited in the 1960s that it would have been daunting. It sounds like this was a reference to the 1980s--a point where Esalen was starting to more seriously implement some of these practices--along with a period of direction needing to be redefined and distilled given Dick''s death. I can easily understand how this became fused in the final writing and it''s a relatively minor point in an otherwise excellent article--though I do not want to do a disservice to the reputations of those dealing with those issues at that time.

DAVID PRICE/BIG SUR

More Kudos and Addenda

Thank you for the superb article on the history of Esalen and its grand vision for the future. But the story isn''t complete without mention of Butch Kronlund, the general contractor who managed the remarkable reconstruction of Esalen''s world famous baths, and the many skilled craftsmen who were part of his team.

Butch''s mastery of materials and construction is renowned in Big Sur--he also helped build Post Ranch and many other landmark structures. As important, he has a great respect for the cultural and natural environment of Big Sur.

I hope your readers have an opportunity to enjoy Butch''s implementation of Mickey Muennig''s design of Esalen''s new baths.

MICHAEL D. DELAPA/MONTEREY

I Love a Man in Uniform

With all due respect to Andrei Codrescu: In "The Charisma of Fascists" [Nov. 7-13], he radically misquotes Sylvia Plath''s most famous poem, "Daddy," in which she attacks both her rejecting father (and the whole German heritage she associates with Nazism) and her faithless husband. The line in question--an ironic commentary on the "feminine masochist" stereotype--actually reads: "Every woman adores a fascist."

PENELOPE ELLSWORTH/SALINAS

More Italians Among Us

Kudos to Jessica Lyons for her story "It''s a Family Thing." However, Ms. Lyons left out some facts not mentioning the Coletto''s and the Catanea''s and their contribution to the fishing of the sardine industry during the 40''s and the development of the City of Monterey.

M.W. GUERRA/PISMO BEACH

The Sopranos Aren''t Cool

Regarding the piece about Monterey''s Italian families ["Paisanos," Nov. 21-27]: Does the author have any evidence that Italians are unique as a culture in being close to their families? She states that the young Italians she writes about "knew being Italian was cool way before the Sopranos." Of course The Sopranos is well written and acted but the author seems to be implying that being a cold-blooded paid assassin is "cool." Maybe it''s dangerous for me to criticize, I might end up stuffed in the trunk of a car.

MARILYN ROSS/MONTEREY

Correction

Vince DiMaggio is not, as reported in the Weekly, the nephew of the former baseball great Joe DiMaggio. Joe DiMaggio was cousin to Vince''s grandfather, who was also named Vince DiMaggio. That Vince DiMaggio was a Monterey fisherman who pioneered the use of the short-wave radio on fishing boats; he did not invent the local short wave radio, as reported here. The Weekly regrets the errors.