Richard Dengrove, Alexandria, VA, USA

[Regarding the Watts Towers:] There seems to be a psychological syndrome people have that they have to create some wonderful edifice/ Ripley’s and others have listed a number of people all around the country who have physically built and decorated buildings, and other structures, to their own very unique taste.

Sometimes their works are scorned as eyesores and sometimes they are praised as great art. One of the Smithsonian museums has had a masterpiece a black D.C. resident did with tin foil and light bulbs.

Such people have such firm views others’ views don’t matter. A builder in the Midwest with his own personal vision asked Frank Lloyd Wright what he thought of his masterpiece. Wright told him that he wouldn’t hire him to build a chicken coop. That only encouraged the man.