To the editor: A lot of stories have been written about my brother, Dr. Gregory W. Spencer. ("Death's Long Shadow," Sept. 10, 2003). However, none of those stories have contained any information from his family. It is really a shame that when someone dies tragically, people push to make money from that person's demise. Newspapers run article after article. The family members are continuously reminded through those articles how he died. It doesn't stop there. The probing starts: Let's examine his life, see what it holds.

Well, Gregory's life held years of helping people. He provided funeral services to those who could not otherwise afford them. He sent several people to school and gave scholarships to several others. He went into neighborhoods where others would not go, to minister. He gave more than he earned. He gave when he didn't have it to give, but he would always say, "The Lord will take care of me, I'm not worried."

His beliefs and convictions were real and, for us, still remain real today. This was a man that took a God-given anointing and used it to God's glory. I say anointing, because to be able to reach out to thousands of people, render services to people, and still go back month after month to check on the families, you have to be anointed. His life was not a job, it was a calling, and one he carried out quite successfully, as evidenced by the number of people who attended his homegoing. They were not there to spectate but to appreciate. What will your life speak when you leave here? What legacy will you leave behind? What happened to all those people he touched? How do you allow the media to continue to write articles that do not in anyway sum up the totality of who he was?

Let this not be the only letter written in response to articles that don't really portray him. Allow his memory to live on, and allow our family to continue to heal and go forth with his dream. Gregory might have died on June 24, 2003, but I guarantee you this: Neither his dream nor his legacy will ever die. Remember him in death, the way you saw him in life. Respect him in death, the way you respected him in life. Remind yourself of the things he did to inspire your life or the life of someone you knew. If you want to do something to remember him, commit your life to God the way he did. Keep his memory, his dream, and his legacy alive. Gregory would always say to me, it doesn't matter what man has to say about me, just what the Lord will say. And I believe he says, "All is well."

Rest in peace Gregory. We, your family, love you.

Sandra White
Fort Worth

To the editor: The article about the Arlington Heights neighborhood and Christ Chapel Bible Church ("Crash Course in American Culture," Sept. 17, 2003) was very fair and balanced, I have to say. I can't help but think about how difficult life is for people who never seem able to accept change without a struggle. It seems, too, that if you don't learn to embrace change at an early age (say, at least by age 50?), you may grow to be cantankerous in old age.

I would really like to encourage Mr. Swartzfager to accept Christ Chapel's offer to eat out on Sunday morning at their expense. He and the other well-meaning citizens fighting the growth of this church should perhaps face the fact that, even should they succeed in getting this church to move elsewhere, the old neighborhood is not coming back. The church and all its accumulated property would be sold to another church seeking to grow.

I do not attend Christ Chapel. However, I would like to add that I have personal knowledge that Mr. Disney and Mr. Moates (mentioned in the article) are decent and highly respected businessmen in the community.

Kozie Bartow
Fort Worth

To the editor: I'm writing to comment on your article "Crash Course in American Culture," detailing the Christ Chapel Bible Church's God-inspired dealings with the neighborhood in which its building is located. With all the money this church has spent on buying so many houses, paying for demolition, cleanup, and other related costs, it could have built a parking garage next to the church without destroying a neighborhood. And don't tell me it would cost too much for them to do it, especially since they can afford a huge expansion.

But, hey, as long as they are a tax-exempt, religious organization doing God's work in his name, it's OK to treat others like yesterday's trash with their heavy-handed tactics. And you know Mr. Moates' brother-in-law is going to support the church's positions. Although he may not have any financial interest in the church, I'll bet he gets plenty of those free brunches the church so readily gives out.

What a sickening situation. If this is God's work, God needs to rethink his occupation.

David Reuss
Bedford

To the editor: Well, it's about time the neighbors in Arlington Heights are standing up to Christ Chapel Bible Church! I used to live at 3733 Birchman Av. -- the little white house with the red shutters directly across the street from the church. My former neighbor and I tried to fight the church's progress when they expanded their parking lot over to Birchman and Calmont. Unfortunately, we couldn't garner any other neighbor support other than Andrew Swartzfager and we had to sell our homes.

The church did give me a fair deal, but if I hadn't given in when I did I would have lost on my investment. I wasn't ready to move, but was feeling pushed out since everyone else around me was selling.

The neighborhood association tried to help as well by coming to a meeting that the city council required before allowing the parking lot to go through. It was obvious that the church had a far-reaching influence, with members of the council who attended the church not being required to recuse themselves from the vote.

I just wanted to thank you for your story, and I hope that the neighborhood will be successful!

Courtney DeAngelis Morfeld
Fort Worth

To the editor: I want to amplify one concern raised by Peter Gorman in his Sept. 17 column, "Tomorrow's Tulias." He wrote in his fifth paragraph, "But the lack of evidence seemed not to matter to juries. Many of the early trials produced harsh sentences" against 35 black people in Tulia railroaded on drug charges. That is a big problem. Juries are supposed to be our protection against injustice. I want to inquire as to why those juries failed to protect and what we need to do to fix this situation.

David Olson
Arlington

To the editor: Excellent op-ed writing by Peter Gorman on the column about the scandal in Tulia and the problems with regional drug task forces. But -- I have a couple of small quibbles. The first is with the statement that the book is just about closed on Tulia. A pardon is not an apology from the State of Texas, nor for that matter from the U.S. government, or from the man who was governor at the time of the outrage. Secondly, jury members need to be educated about how law enforcement officers' vested interest in the outcome of a trial could influence their testimony.

Gerald Sutliff
Castro Valley, Calif.

In quoting from a Houston newspaper last week, Static unintentionally resurrected the long-dead Houston Post. Credit should have gone to the Houston Chronicle. Fort Worth Weekly regrets the error.

In a guest column on Sept. 17 ("Tomorrow's Tulias"), it was reported that Tom Coleman, the central figure in the Tulia drug sting scandal, was presented a Texas Lawman of the Year award by John Cornyn, then Texas' attorney general and now a U.S. senator. While it is correct that Cornyn physically gave the award to Coleman, during a dinner at which Cornyn was a speaker, the senator's staff wished to make clear that it was not Cornyn who actually decided to bestow the honor. That was done by the Texas Narcotics Control Progam, a now-defunct program operated by then-Gov. George W. Bush's criminal justice division.