Leading Question
Sir:
I wonder whether we should admire or pity a man who could "lead his nation through five troublesome years and come out of it all a supreme and unabashed optimist . . . boundlessly sure of himself" [TIME, April 24] ? My personal opinion is that, with the passing years, any President should become more humble than cocky.
DAVID C. HANNA Columbus, Ohio
Pert Dilemma
Sir:
I am far more amazed than amazing [TIME, May 1]. When your valued periodical reached me, I . . . measured the Baldwin shelf. To be accurate, the two shelves sagging under the output of somewhat less than 30 years, thank you, measure, together, eight feet . . . I would be beholden to you if you would inform me in what sense you used the adjective "pert." I have consulted my Shorter Oxford English Dictionary and find myself confounded. The early meanings run "open, unconcealed, manifest." A very early (and pleasant) usage is translated as "beautiful." Later, the meaning became "smart, dapper." From there we go on to "sharp, intelligent, adroit and clever." And if this were not enough, to "forward in speech and behavior, saucy, cheeky and malapert." After that the S.O.E.D. proclaims that pert "may be used as a vague expression of disfavor." Comes now, "bold," followed by "esp. in a bad sense" and after that "audacious, lively, bright, sprightly, in good spirits, or jolly." . . . . . You comprehend my dilemma? I don't know whether to send you flowers, three additional subscriptions, or call my lawyers . . .
FAITH BALDWIN New Canaan, Conn.
P: Let lively, bright, sprightly Novelist Baldwin omit flowers. -- ED.
Guns & Corn Pone
Sir:
Re your cover picture of Betty Hutton [TIME, April 24]: to the double-action Colt revolvers with swing-out cylinders have been added, by your otherwise careful artist, ejector slides from the single-action type of revolver. No such hand-gun as shown was ever made.
GORDON K. BUSH Athens, Ohio
P: Studio prop boys, not TIME'S cover artist, tricked up double-action revolvers to look like single-action frontier models. -- ED.
Sir:
GREAT STORY ON MY SURE SHOT SISTER-IN-LAW BETTY HUTTON . . . HOWEVER, I HAVE INSTRUCTED MY SECONDS TO CALL ON TIME'S EDITORS . . USE OF THE NINE-YEAR-OLD CORN PONE PICTURE OF SISTER MARION, WHO IS ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN, WAS A MISTAKE THAT CAN ONLY BE ERASED ON THE FIELD OF HONOR.
MARION'S HUSBAND Buffalo, N.Y.
P:Herewith an up-to-date picture of Marion & husband Jack Douglas, an unreformed gag writer turned comic. -- ED.
Lee for President?
Sir:
Hooray for Governor Bracken Lee of Utah [TIME, April 24] ! A man with principles and courage . . .
CORNELIA MANTIUS Glendale, Ariz.
Sir:
. . . May I be the first to nominate Utah's Governor J. Bracken Lee for the presidency in 1952 ? ELIZABETH A. PETERSON Madison, Wis.
Sir:
. . . What are the Republicans waiting for? We need a successful businessman in Washington, not a politician . . . (MRS.) DENISON HURLBUT HATCH Riverside, Conn.
Sir:
... I believe you would find that most thinking veterans agree with [Governor Lee] on his attitude toward vets' affairs . . .
The politician who gets our votes won't be the one who advocates a vets' bonus or any similar Treasury grab -- which is obviously designed to get more votes for himself -- but our votes . . . will go to the man with guts and integrity enough to advocate a little sensible thinking and economy -- even if that economy starts with us ! JAMES A. SUMNER Greeley, Colo.
Sir:
Governor Lee seems to have lost sight of the main purpose of government. Apparently he has forgotten that government was originated, not as a business enterprise, but to serve the people; that government is a social organization which aims, through cooperation, to make our economic life less hazardous.
It would seem that the type of economy Governor Lee advocates is the old dog-eat-dog, every-man-for-himself policy which resulted in our late dust bowls and depleted forests . . .
(MRS.) JUNE ROWAN Emporia, Kans.
Old Parr
Sir: I was amused to read in your excellent article on Dr. George Dock, in the April 24 issue: "Nobody was sure who Tom Parr was." Teetotaling Urologist Elmer Belt, who "went searching through his medical books in the systematic way that Dr. Dock would appreciate," should have known that Dr. Dock undoubtedly was referring to that famous GRAND OLD PARR SCOTCH WHISKY named after "Thomas Parr, born A.D. 1483 and interred at Westminster Abbey A.D. 1635 aged 152 years" . . .
JAN O. KNIZEK Mexico City, Mexico
Sir: . . . Thomas Parr, a Shropshire lad, who lived, by his own unauthenticated and undocumented account, almost 153 years, was a contemporary of Shakespeare and of Dr. William Harvey. The Anatomical Examination to which TIME refers was Harvey's report of an autopsy performed upon Parr by order of the King, Charles I ... Many books of general reference mention Parr. His outstanding honor in comtemporary literature is his appearance on page one of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake . . .
WILLIAM J. FORD, M.D. Chicago, Ill.
Misnomer
Sir: . . .The organization to which I referred, in speaking of Ambassador-at-large Philip Jessup, was the Institute of Pacific Relations, not the Institute of Public Relations, Inc. [TIME, April 10]. To the best of my knowledge, the latter organization is a loyal organization . . .
Because of the similarity of names, your error is understandable, but is, of course, regrettable.
JOE MCCARTHY United States Senator Washington, D.C.
P: Most regrettable, scarcely understandable. -- ED.
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