Faking it has fans and foes

A lot of hard work and creativity went into your article [“Faking Paradise,” Oct. 11] and that guy’s wonderful backyard, but, wow, did that headline ever bring everything back down to earth in a dramatic free fall. Makes it sound kind of like O.J. Simpson’s fake Rolex or the high-echelon luggage-company exec who is reminded that, when all is said and done, he merely works at a suitcase factory. Bob Haggstrom’s jaw must have dropped!

Bernie Schaeffer

Goleta

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Thanks for proving once again that we in L.A. are among the most profligate wasters of natural resources in America. While the front page and editorial columns of The Times are brimming with stories about (take your pick) dwindling water supplies from Colorado rivers, vanishing snowmelt, water wars between Sacramento corporate farm interests, etc., you choose to focus on a Malibu resident who apparently feels that building a 9-acre paradise is just what parched Southern California needed.

Eric Oxenberg West Los Angeles

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The article was one of the most interesting we have read. The conversion of barren land into his paradise is an example of what one man’s passion can accomplish. We wish we had the same ability to create a place for the birds and critters and the personal tranquillity it provides.

Al and Yvonne Cullen

Pasadena