The piece in the Sun on the Old Print Shop on Lexington Avenue is terrific and reminds me of the many family-owned businesses that are still in New York [Arts&Letters, “Selling Prints for Generations,” July 23, 2008].

The Argosy Bookstore, at 116 East 59th Street, stands out as another.

Just as the Newman family created the old Print Shop, Argosy was created by the Hamples and is a wonderful testimony as to what makes this city truly unique.

ROBERT DILENSCHNEIDER

New York, N.Y.

‘The Saudi Monologue’

In response to your editorial, the better thing to emphasize is not why the conference failed, as this was inevitable from the start, but why it wasn’t held in Riyadh [Editorial, “The Saudi Monologue,” July 21, 2008].

This is simple, because in addition to holding a conference that is generally agreed to be a farce, the Saudi government would be forced to expose its dark underbelly.

This is because the Saudi Government bans all expression of religion (not just places of worship) other than their ultra-conservative, Wahhabi brand, persecuting all other religious minorities within the country.

In addition to this religious persecution, delegates to a Riyadh conference would likely come across terrorist “re-education programs” that allow captured jihadists in Iraq to reenter society after only a couple of months while men such as Hadi Al Mutif, a prisoner of conscience, face solitary confinement and decades in jail.

If Saudi Arabia truly wanted a dialogue, they would have held it in Riyadh and put their reputation on the line. Hopefully our leading citizens will consider this before becoming “props” to a similar façade in the future.

MICHAEL CARVER

Associate Analyst

The Institute for Gulf Affairs

Washington, D.C.