Your Letters: Eugene Levy And American Dreams

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Time for your letters.

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SIMON: Last Saturday, NPR's Jennifer Ludden introduced us to 30-year-old Michelle Holshue, as part of NPR's "American Dream" series. Ms. Holshue graduated with $140,000 in student loan debt just as the recession hit. She worries she'll never be able to own a home, or raise a family.

JENNIFER HOLSHUE: Even if I was a nurse working in a different specialty, I could definitely make a lot more money. But because I wanted to help people that need the most help, I think I've made a lot of sacrifices.

SIMON: We heard from many who sympathized with Michelle Holshue. But Ronald Rodriguez writes, on NPR.org: I'm sorry that I cannot sympathize with the young people who took out loans to go to school. Like buying a car or a house, there's an obligation to repay the loans for doing so. Chalk it up a lesson in reality. You borrowed the dime, so now pay for the time.

We spoke with Eugene Levy last week. He's in a new Tyler Perry movie, and recollected his days with the Toronto outpost of Chicago's famed Second City Company.

EUGENE LEVY: You know, we kind of got the ABCs in how to kind of move a scene along and, you know, make it work without getting cheap. And we did that till we got back to Toronto, and then we got cheap again.

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SIMON: That Toronto cast - including Eugene Levy, Catherine O' Hara, Andrea Martin, Martin Short and John Candy - went on to make the "SCTV" TV show. Reggie Benstein writes, on our website: There was nothing cheap about "SCTV." Just brilliance on a zero budget; the best kind of comedy. Victoria Weinstein writes: "SCTV" is still the best troupe comedy show ever. I remember skits from the 1980s like it was yesterday.

Well, we like hearing from you. You can write to us. Visit NPR.org; click on Contact Us. And I'm on Twitter: @NPRScottSimon. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.