Hubert Humphrey

To the Editors:

In politics, an endeavor where egos regularly outpace dedication, Hubert Humphrey [Jan. 23] seems never to have forgotten the people; he never abandoned his dedication to their needs; he never lost faith with the dream of what America might be. In my lifetime, a handful of political leaders have made me proud to be an American. Hubert H. Humphrey alone among them made me proud to be a human being.

John J. Mollick Bowie, Md.

Too often Hubert Humphrey was seen only as the ebullient eternal optimist, a Don Quixote verbally tilting at windmills and dreaming the impossible dream. But his idealism lifted us to share in that dream and, in so doing, his idealism conquered our skepticism.

W. Ray Kohler Woodbury, N.J.

In an age when more and more people appear either beset by total despair for the future or have hope only in the supernatural, Senator Humphrey seemed to say that we, mankind, hold the hope for the future by working our hardest and never giving up the fight for a better life.

His death seems to point out the difference that one man can make, equipped with unyielding hope and a willingness to battle these ills.

Daniel Freiberg Tucson, Ariz.

Hubert Humphrey, a giant of a man.

Mary Frances M. Slota

Vestal, N. Y.

The U.S. and Micronesia

Thank you for "Wind Shifts in the Pacific" [Jan. 16]. In 1944-45 I served as air-operations officer on Majuro. Since then, I have wondered about that beautiful place but have been unable to learn anything about it even from the Navy.

I have always felt that with the addition of women, children and decent food, none of which'we had, plus the sweetness and decency of the natives, Majuro would have been paradise.

It might interest you to know that, in writing scripts for M*A*S*H, Jim Fritzell and I used several events that actually happened to me or my friends on Majuro, e.g., Hawkeye being arrested and confined to his tent; a high-ranking officer going berserk; Radar sending stateside for a pair of elevated shoes. I envy those 150 Americans living there.

Everett Greenbaum Beverly Hills, Calif.

To an ex-Marine who was there during the invasion of Guam back in 1944, your picture of Agana in "Paradise with Rough Edges" brought back many memories, some brutal, sad and bloody, yet some very beautiful and unforgettable.

Eugene Weingartner Belleville, Ill.

Your article on America's Pacific islands may possibly help the Micronesian people receive the attention they deserve.

Having spent two years of my life in Micronesia, I can personally attest to the neglect the people have received under the hand of the American colonialists. Of the eleven trusteeships established after World War II, Micronesia's future status is the last one to be resolved. Perhaps the U.S. will finally receive the two rewards that it has struggled so hard to attain in Micronesia--embarrassment and shame.

Jon K. Ellis Niantic, III.

The Game at the Super Bowl

I hereby propose a national campaign to boycott next year's Super Sunday at the Super Bowl, [Jan. 16]. For too long have we faithful fans gobbled up hours of insipid, rampant commercialism for the sole pleasure of watching poorly played, overprogrammed games. It was televised not out of love for the game, but so that huge corporations could beam down their benevolent images upon us. From now on, either we boycott it or they must pay us to watch it.

Richard Marshall Somerville, Mass.

I think the Super Bowl game was a good one because there were enough mistakes to make it interesting. Any game becomes dull when the plays are carried out perfectly.

Frederick J. Miller Cedar Rapids, Iowa

I was wondering when you people were going to start recognizing the Cowboys. They may make movies about Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers, but it's Tom Landry and those marvelous cogs in that Dallas Machine who make history.

L.A. Harper Denton, Texas

Swatting the Swingers

TIME'S report on sex in "Is There Life in a Swingers' Club?" [Jan. 16] is no doubt accurate, but it is stomach turning.

Nations may recover from dollar slides; and earthquakes may not destroy the U.S. We may forget that Super Bowls are played on the Sabbath, but as surely as God is holy, judgment falls on a nation whose sexual promiscuity and sex perversion is a way of life. As America arrives on the scrap heap of nations, Sodom and Gomorrah will ask: What took you so long?

(The Rev.) Robert K. Churchill Amarillo, Texas

Tut-tut! Just because some members of the human race choose to be so filthy, why is a reporter brash enough to go and look and then write about it, and why must you print it?

Dorothy N. Ayer Olympia, Wash.

Nostalgia for the Music Hall

The impending demise of the Radio City Music Hall [Jan. 16] is especially sad to us who trod its boards over the years as members of the Rockettes, ballet and glee club. I was in its glee club from '37 to '40 and married a member of the ballet. We were all jealous of the Rockettes, for they were the best paid of all the cast. They learned a few routines and used them week after week, while the glee club had to memorize--in three days--30 pages or more of new music each production. Quite often the lyrics were in Japanese. Chinese, Hawaiian. Russian or you name it. Our routines had to fit the production. At times we thought we worked in a factory, but as I look back I know I would do it all over again.

Bob Oglesby Dallas

Wastes in Space

Your Americana mini-article that spoke of the orbiting astronauts' seeing a crystal beauty in their body wastes in space [Jan. 16] disturbed my idea of the breathtakingly unpolluted realm of the cosmos. One man's heaven is another man's septic tank. Ugh!

Rebecca N. Byrkit Flagstaff, Ariz.

It is typical of man to perform unsurmountable feats to conquer space, only to immediately pollute it. Perhaps scientists will soon devise ways to transport our garbage and wastes into space to form a "spectacular" a thousand times better than that which Astronaut Schweickart witnessed.

Lovelea Usack Mukwonago, Wis.

More About Wastes

Your story on the possibilities of using garbage as fuel [Jan. 9] sounded enthusiastic, but burning garbage is inefficient and wasteful. The best possible solutions to the garbage problem are recycling and reduced consumption. In the near future we will witness a growing opposition from recycling organizations to the "burn anything" theory that only benefits large equipment manufacturers and creates few new jobs. Recycling is a proven technology and besides, it doesn't need a guaranteed supply of fresh garbage that the $50 million conversion plants require.

Seth D. Derish Chico, Calif.

The Sex Pistols

TIME'S glance at the Sex Pistols [Jan. 16] only serves to illustrate the growing feeling among those who enjoy good rock that modern music is taking a fast dive into the garbage can. Not only is Beethoven rolling over; he may walk out of his grave and give Johnny Rotten and his compatriots a deserved punch in the nose!

Don Vaughan Lake Worth, Fla.

The English have made a giant step in combating noise pollution. They sent the Sex Pistols to the U.S.

Heather Cordoni Carbondale, Ill.

Death of Old 75

The death of "Old 75," the elm on the White House grounds [Jan. 16], should remind us all that the environmental movement has yet to make a real impact on Congress or the White House. Lack of budget support for forestry research and management is a national disgrace. We lose more trees to insects and disease every year than we do to forest fires.

Maybe our leaders in Washington will be able to see the forests when the rest of the trees are gone.

Carl H. Reidel President, American Forestry Association Hamden, Conn.

I live in a town where developers are tearing the trees down with no thought to the joy and peace they bring. It's great to know there are people who still care enough to try to save one.

Sue Jones Alta Loma, Calif.

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