Cover: Sexy Beasts
Susan Griffin's newest book celebrates the original party girl--the courtesan.
News: Free Radicals
DIY educators share skills at Free School Santa Cruz.
Nüz: Mountain lion on Highway 17--who you gonna call?
Bruce Bratton: The decline of Thomas Kinkade's mass-produced art empire; UCSC presents a Satyajit Ray film festival.
Spirited Soul: A farewell to visionary artist and teacher Mary Holmes.
Coptering a Plea: 'Black Hawk Down' makes a bold case for military intervention.
Marital Law: 'Lantana' wanders in dramatic underbrush.
Sights & Sounds: Sick Shift show affirms that suburban culture produces mediocre music.
Trading Places: Novelist Arundhati Roy turns essayist with 'Power Politics.'
Spaghetti West: The latest revival of a Felton landmark is romancing even the crustiest critics.
Please don't forget to write! Metro Santa Cruz welcomes letters. Like any great work of art, they should be originals -- not copies of letters sent elsewhere. Include address and daytime phone (for verification purposes only). Letters may be edited for length and clarity or to correct factual inaccuracies known to us. Postal: Metro Santa Cruz Letters, 115 Cooper St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060. Fax: 831/457-5828. Email:
. Emailers, please include name, city of residence and phone number. Letters printed will list email address unless otherwise specified. Letters to the editor are not currently published in the online version of this paper.