Kudos to Mark Jenkins for slicing through the Disney hype in “Remember the Titans” (9/15) and exposing the huge distortions about racial realities and adolescent trends in my former hometown, Alexandria. He’s right on in pointing out that in 1971, football fever was being eclipsed in the minds of many by the hippie scene and the anti-war movement. This underappreciated twist in America’s pop history plays a major role in my novel, Finish High School at Home, published this summer in paperback by the Web-based iuniverse.com. My only quibble with Jenkins’ razor-sharp analysis is that he, too, seems confident that his perception of “the scene” in his high school is the final word. In fact, there are many private realities inside the differing varieties of students within every high school.

Arlington, Va.