Dear Mr. Brinkerhoff, After reading your article, "Fighting Gang Violence with Night Lights and Mass Arrests" I can honestly tell you that I share your passion for change and action. After reading in your artle that "Last year’s inaugural effort caused an 86% drop in homicides and a 17% drop in gang-related violence near the parks, according to police crime statistics. Some parks experienced no homicides for the first summer in years," left me with great pride that there are people out there making a difference. You're article also made me think about the lives of the friends I lost to the gangster life. Although, I live in Australia gangs is a problem we face here as well. I have lost too many friends to that kind of life many of whom dying by the gun, overdosing or ending up in jail. I was headed right where they were. Unfortunately, it took the death of a dear friend of mine to wake me up and start again. Due to that experience, I started over and finished high school. I am currently a nurse and a published author. I am writing to you because a fictitious book I have recently written may help in this direction and I want to draw it to your attention, as you may be interested in it. The title is "Purged by Darkness" and I have used this book to give talks here in Australia to various high school, libraries and youth groups about the reality of gangs and the issues of choice and consequence. I've always believed that the best cure is prevention. If you have any questions, I am most willing to offer my views on this topic. Sincerely Michael Estepa, Published Author www.michaelestepa.com www. eloquentbooks.com/PurgedByDarkness.html