POV
Thanks, Jim
The Marin Magazine feature I enjoy the
most is the historical photo inside the back
cover (“Looking Back”). I turn to it first every
month. Thanks for that — I love learning more
about Marin’s past, and Tiburon/Belvedere in
particular. JOAN BERGSUND, VIA EMAIL
Don’t Forget the Duke
In the October edition, I enjoyed your special
guide to the Mill Valley Film Festival and
especially the “On Location” map. I wanted
to point out, however, one glaring omission
from that piece — Blood Alley. This movie was
partially filmed at China Camp (now a state
park) in 1955. It is considered the breakout
role for John Wayne. And it co-stared Lauren
Bacall. The nice thing is you can still see the
location today much the way it was in 1955.
LARR Y ANDO W, SAN RAFAEL, VIA EMAIL
Icon Love
Thanks for adding the symbols denoting what
meals are offered by the local restaurants in
your Dine section. I’m sure it will be a timesaver for both the customer and the restaurant’s
reservation staff. JIM DICKSON, VIA EMAIL
Ingredient Inquiry
I was dismayed while reading “Sustainably
Sonoma” (October). The article implies that
grapes that are sustainably grown will create
wine that is healthy for us to drink. This is sim-
plistic and misleading. While I am delighted that
more vineyards are embracing healthy growing
practices — organic, sustainable and biody-
namic — the author only hinted at what really
goes into our mouths when we drink a glass of
wine. Sometimes as many as 20 chemical addi-
tives in addition to grapes and yeast are present,
none of which are required to be mentioned on
the label due to the power of the wine lobby. My
point is that it is not just farming practices that
make wine a sustainable product. It also needs
to be sustainable for our bodies, and that means
the contents of the bottle should be healthy
rather than a chemical cocktail, or at the very
least we should be supplied with names of the
ingredients so that we can make the choice
as to what is included in our glass of “wine.”
MARK DARLE Y, MILL VALLE Y, VIA EMAIL
Housing in Marin
Jim Wood, I completely disagree with your
commentary (POV, October). I drive on Tamal
Vista multiple times a day and the traffic is
horrendous. I can’t imagine what it will be
like once the units are occupied. And I seriously don’t believe you’ll be seeing Tam Ridge
residents strolling down that busy street to
do their grocery shopping at Safeway or even
Trader Joe’s. It’s a fantasy that’s not going
to happen. The residents of the Twin Cities
should not be a part of Victor MacFarlane’s
“comeback.” GEMMA PLOCKI, VIA EMAIL
Thank you for pointing out all the (obvious to
some) positive elements involved in the building
of Tam Ridge Residences. We now have so many
people commuting for hours to get to their jobs
in Marin. The cars of these people are already
clogging our roads. How much better it would be
if they were living here and able to walk or take
a convenient bus to work? The land the apartments are built on is not in the most desirable
part of Marin for anything other than the type of
housing being built. MARY CONNORS, VIA EMAIL
Jim, thanks for some of the new information
about this building. You are absolutely right
that this will create a “walkable community.”
When the 230 cars parked at the building hit
the already gridlocked street, the best alternative will be to walk. JOHN LEVINSOHN, VIA EMAIL
Jim Wood, you think that WinCup “could blend
in here and possibly even enhance the livability
of Marin County.” This is incomprehensible
to me. How could this horrendously ugly and
over-scaled monstrosity enhance the livability of a county known for its splendid beauty?
WinCup is a travesty, and it is hated by we the
Your Letters