Potshots, Helter-Skelter
Sir:
It used to be that one of the vast differences between the U.S. and Russia was that the Russian government withheld information, or gave out false information to its citizenry, while the populace of the U.S. was well informed with the truth from its Government. It is a shame to see the Kennedy Administration erase this difference, as it has done with the circumstances surrounding the Cuban situation.
It is no wonder that other governments distrust the U.S., when the citizens themselves cannot trust what their Government tells them.
BEN LOWRY
Napoleon, Ohio
Sir:
I deeply appreciate the fact that TIME refuses to be intimidated by the Kennedy dynasty's vehement disapproval of all news media that dare to dim the supposed "shining Kennedy image" with the actual, tarnished facts.
I have only one gripe. At two press conferences, the President has been allowed to laugh off charges of "managed news." Why are your correspondents not pinning him down with specific questions and forcing him to publicly face this issue?
SAM HARROD III Eureka, Ill.
Sir:
When a man has to hide his activities from his own family, or a corporation from its stockholders, or a doctor from his patient and even a nation from its people, the reasons had better stand up to verification in the spotlight of discovery.
E. G. BUDDE Miami
Sir:
You mention that the Kennedys, like any other family, have their building headache: ". . . how to screen the house from view of the nearby highway . . ."
I can't see their problem--move the highway.
MRS. RICHARD SAYER PETERSON Wayzata, Minn.
Sir:
Architecture has been called "the mother art." The First Family is supposedly a patron of the arts. It is somewhat surprising, therefore, that their new home in Virginia should be so lacking in enlightened architectural design. One can only assume that its future occupants feel that this is a progressive, New Frontier type of house.
CHARLES H. HAMILTON
Worcester, Mass.
Sir:
First it was rocking chairs, then 50-mile hikes. Now he's building "His and Her" bedrooms at the new retreat on Rattlesnake Mountain. God help us.
ROBIN J. SWENSON
Terre Haute, Ind.
Sir:
Now that the New Frontier has launched the 50-mile-hike fad, how about Mr. Kennedy's going one step farther and starting a 90-mile-cruise fad--to Cuba, to see exactly how Communism and its weapons have gained a foothold under our very nose.
MATTHEW H. LEAR Glenview, Ill.
Sir:
The office of the U.S. presidency is becoming a target at which all manner of men are taking potshots, helter-skelter. I see inherent in all this a cancerous growth that could spread and stifle the true spirit of Americanism--which embodies constructive criticism, yes, but which also is based on sober consideration, mutual understanding and due respect for another person's judgment.
RAYMOND W. TRIMBLE Waukegan, Ill.
Recognition for Doing Right
Sir:
We have an expression at Synanon: it is "gut level," which means rock-bottom honesty. My gut-level feeling is that your story [March 1] was the most wonderful thing that has happened to me since coming to Synanon. As project director for the Nevada State Prison group, I would like you to know that it meant as much to the inmate members as it did to me personally.
The effect that the article had on the prisoners was evidenced when we read it aloud to a Synanon meeting in the cave at the prison. Recognition for doing the right thing was a new experience for most of these men, whose only recognition formerly was based on the outrageousness of their crimes. CANDY LATSON Reno
Alone With Bended Knee
Sir:
Re your story [March 1] on the Royal Canadian Air Force physical fitness program:
I have been "holding" at Level B, Chart 3, since April 1, 1962.
I have been a zealous "pusher" of the program since that date, having distributed more than 60 of the booklets. Nevertheless, I am monumentally dismayed because all of the 60 recipients of the booklets have dropped the program, leaving me all alone at 28 toe touches, 27 setups, 39 liftings of the head and legs, 19 pushups, 500 runnings in place, and 50 deep knee-bends.
WILLIAM RUSSELL BURNS JR. Salem, Mass.
Sir:
I'm on the 5BX program, but the best physical fitness program in the world is to be 46 years of age and have four boys, aged
10, 9, 8, and 2 1/2.
M. JEFFERSON Wichita Falls, Texas
Sir:
The 1963 version of "the shot heard round the world" may be the flexing of a stiff, sore muscle.
DR. WILLIAM S. WALD Captain, Dental Corps, U.S.A.F. Reese A.F.B.
Lubbock, Texas
I Bassotti
Sir:
You refer to Premier Fanfani and his aides [Feb. 22 | as "bassotti" (dachshunds) for their shortness. Though not a Fanfani fan, I object to such a derisive classification.
On the average, bright men are short, but I wouldn't refer to Caesar, Bonaparte, Mozart or Charlie Chaplin as bassotti. The only very tall bright men I can think of at the moment are President Lincoln, President Kennedy, De Gaulle and Dr. Clement A. Finch, world famous hematologist of Seattle, Washington.
EMANUELE SALVIDIO, M.D.
University of Genoa, Italy
P.S. I am myself a bassotto.
Lonely Lutheran
Sir:
Fifteen years ago I shared in a retreat at which Arthur Kreinheder made a serious proposal for a Lutheran monastic order. The kind and gentle, yet passionate spirit he displayed there for his project has been well captured in this capsule article [March 1]. Whatever reaction Lutherans may have to his theology as implied in solitary celebration of the Mass, they will certainly admit that somehow his movement points to a need that Protestants generally have not been able to meet or even recognize: the need for worship, meditation and prayer instead of action committees and programs.
(THE REV.) DAVID L. SCHEIDT Pastor The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Living Word Roslyn, Pa.
Sir:
A celibate, Mass-celebrating monk styling himself a Lutheran? The Great Reformer of Wittenberg, who by word and deed rejected celibacy, the Mass and monasticism, would have flown into one of his typical Teutonic tizzies. Neither Catholic fish nor Protestant fowl, "Father" Kreinheder represents a syncretistic mishmash equally offensive to both. One wonders if he has a mezuzah on the doorpost of his monastery just to be sure all bases are covered.
FREDERICK M. ERLICH Belleville, NJ.
Smashing
Sir:
Your note on piano reduction [March 1] brings to mind my father, Tom Lawrence (on the Wall Street Journal for 42 years), who reduced a player piano with an ax in under 15 minutes in 1935. Pop always was avantgarde.
MRS. DONALD M. CRAWFORD Brooklyn, N.Y.
Sir:
For future scientific team tomfoolery, might I suggest book burning? Records established in this test of intellect are: encyclopedia ten minutes (Britannica, Volume P), the Talmud twelve minutes, Winnie the Pooh five minutes. Prevalent textbooks may serve as igniters. Paperbacks are hardly sporting. ELIZABETH TAYLOR American Embassy Lima, Peru
Sir:
As a harpsichord lover of many years' standing, I have long advocated relegating the piano to the rubbish heap. You can therefore imagine with what relish I read your description of the students who can reduce a piano to kindling in five minutes.
SOL BABITZ
Heidelberg, Germany
Teaching Jonny
Sir:
Poor Jonny! With a start like that [March 8], the entire concept of reading, which is, of course, to find out about something, will be a mystery. Reading for meaning must be the aim from the very beginning, and if this concept is not established, there will be difficulties later. Even if the beginning reader knows the meaning of such words as igloo, bamboo, racoon, etc., which is doubtful, he will have a tough time with the context of something like "The song of the toot root has made the princess snore."
As for spelling, how many of our words are spelled phonetically? In fact, most of the spelling errors in the early grades are made by spelling words phonetically.
The book could have value as a phonetic exercise; as reading, no.
MARGARET YOUNG
Chester, Conn.
Sir:
I'm going to write a primer for my four-year-old, who writes phonetically (fonetik-ly). It's going to be called At the Barnyard and have sentences like "You should buff the rough wood on the plough now," and "After the calf laughs the fey jay neighs.".
It's a wonder Jonny ever could read.
MRS. THOMAS N. HILL Cleveland
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