Daredevil Spree

To the Editors:

I admire the individuals mentioned in your story "Risking It All" [Aug. 29]. Their quest for thrills has been fulfilled by living a dream, a fantasy or a desire. Our lives are too easy, too habitual, too systematic and often too dull. How gratifying that there are still a lot of Huckleberry Finns.

Diane E. Alter Rumson, N.J.

The real adventures of our world are those of the mind: the struggle to put a man on the moon or to find a cure for cancer. The lone researcher is the real hero. Reckless risk takers perform a few extraordinary feats of jumping or climbing and then spend the rest of their lives talking about them in bars. The feats of scientists or anyone concerned with the human dilemma live on indefinitely.

John Ohman Southboro, Mass.

Young men today are turning to hazardous life-endangering sports such as hang-gliding and mountain climbing as a substitute for the wars of the Middle Ages, which perpetually fulfilled the male need to tempt fate. President Reagan should be applauded for his valiant and obsessive efforts to save the lives of these misguided daredevils by taking them out of their mountain-climbing boots and trying to put them back into combat boots.

Stefan M. Wever San Francisco

To lump the great mountaineer Reinhold Messner together with reckless rappellers and people who pogo off El Capitan insults the entire climbing community.

John G. Farrell Littleton, Colo.

Ben Colli may enjoy his 150-ft. to 200-ft. bouncing swoops down the side of a building, but safe rappelling technique demands a steady, slower rate of descent. Bouncing jumps and pendulum motions put a tremendous strain on the rope and the anchor points; if either fails, Colli could lose his life. It is unfortunate that your cover picture featured such unsafe techniques.

Mary Anne Adamson Walnut Creek, Calif.

Seven pages on "Risking It All" and not a word on Jacques Cousteau?

Brian Mansfield New Fairfield, Conn.

While backpacking and climbing on four continents, I learned that outdoor adventure should be perceived not as an end unto itself but as a means of learning more about ourselves and the environment.

Selfish pleasures may be justified after a hard week at the office, but my heroes will always be those social and political animals who focus their energies on the ultimate betterment of society and the world.

Jim Fullerton Omaha

Do thrill seekers who take unnecessary risks expect public and private agencies to come to their rescue? And if they are rescued and survive, do they feel obligated to pay the costs? That's real "nerve"!

Alan O. Martlew Camp Hill, Pa.

News Twisting

I regularly read most of the West German dailies and periodicals you perceive as anti-American [Aug. 29]. Their criticism of American policies, institutions and attitudes is hardly different from what I read in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Newsweek and, yes, TIME. Is there, then, anti-American bias in a large segment of the American press? Or are the German media being asked to confine their criticism to their own affairs and those of the Soviet bloc? I see no such noble restraint in dealing with West Germany's imperfections on the part of most U.S. newspapers and magazines.

Hanns J. Friedrichs ZDF German Television. New York City

The German press is far more reliable and intelligent than much of the U.S. press. It is not so much anti-American as it is pro-German. NATO planning envisions using all of West Germany for a battleground and dumping place for U.S. troops and nuclear weapons; the Germans view this policy with justifiable alarm. America will be getting many rude shocks until it realizes that the cold war is a war that most of the world would gladly sit out.

Steven Clark Columbia, Mo.

Being critical of America's policy and its Government has nothing to do with being anti-American. There are no ironclad rules saying our German policy must be the same as your own. Do you really prefer blatant toadying to honest criticism? And do you still believe that what is good for America must also be good for the world at large?

Udo Schubert Paderborn, West Germany

You cite the comment of French TV Correspondent Michel Meyer that in two months of intensive viewing of German television in 1981, he did not see a single broadcast that could be called positive or friendly toward the U.S., but did view numerous critical ones.

During the period he mentions, several of my productions were broadcast in West Germany. They were upbeat, with positive contents, and they received favorable reviews throughout the country. But Uncle Sam does not understand that Germans no longer act like the TV Hogan's Heroes characters Sergeant Schultz and Colonel Klink; rather, they exercise critical faculties and display self-respect.

Ulrich Wickert ARD German Television New York City

Down Under Rivalry

I am an Aussie living in Europe, and nothing has given me greater pride in my country than reading about how fearful the Yanks are of being defeated in the America's Cup [Aug. 29]. The U.S. better start unbolting the trophy from the New York Yacht Club.

Anthony Patrick Nankervis Perugia, Italy

As a weekend sailor, I thought the America's Cup was a showcase for sailing ability, design and innovation. So why all the furor? Come on, America, one John McEnroe is enough.

Peter Vendrillo Lewiston, N.Y.

It appears that the supernation, with all its money and technology, is going to be beaten by Australia in the America's Cup yacht race, and the Yanks are taking it with all the grace of a baby deprived of its rattle. I am sure that most Americans do not give a damn about the race or the "tin pot" that is the prize, but I wonder how they feel about the slur this episode places on the name of Americans and their country.

Rik Morris Hope Valley, South Australia

Cat Catastrophes

Your article on cat killing in West Germany [Aug. 29] was contemptible. When 300,000 creatures of any life form, whether human or animal, have been shot, poisoned, strangled, axed or thrown from balconies, they should not be the subject of cheap humor.

Betty Zollars Houston

Ailurophobes of West Germany need to be reminded of Albert Schweitzer's words: "The quality of a culture is measured by its reverence for all life."

Joan Keck Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

Hitting Pot Plots

After the tragedies resulting from the use of DDT, PCB and, most recently, dioxin, does our Government believe that paraquat used to kill marijuana plants [Aug. 29] will not be carried by air and water to vegetation being consumed by non-pot users? Those responsible for the pot spraying should return to the third grade and take a refresher course on how the food chain works before they decide to tamper with nature and the lives of innocent people.

Esther Durnwald Lafayette, La.

Hi, Mick; Goodbye, U.S.

I find it hard to accept the notion that young Andrei Berezhkov wanted to return to his Soviet homeland [Aug. 29]. By his parting words, "Say hi to Mick Jagger," and the look on his face in television interviews and magazine and newspaper articles, he was neither thrilled nor overly eager to depart.

Michelle Long South Bend, Ind.

Blanket over Barbie

It is mind boggling to try to comprehend the morality of our Government policy and the individuals involved who decided to use, then hide Klaus Barbie at the end of World War II [Aug. 29]. Are we expected to believe that by 1947 officials were not aware of the atrocities engineered by Barbie, as distinct from "lesser" war criminals? Perhaps, as you reported, "the matter is officially closed in the U.S." But I hope that thinking people will pursue the implications of the whole affair.

Kitty Fixx Bower Santa Barbara, Calif.

If former Nazi Gestapo Chief Klaus Barbie is found guilty of the crimes of mass murder and torture for which he is soon to stand trial, the U.S. Army is implicated as an accessory to those crimes because it aided and abetted his escape.

David A. Waters Portland, Ore.

Government Truth Serum

All elected and appointed Government officials in decision-making positions should be required by law to take periodic polygraph tests [Aug. 29]. The corruption that exists at all levels of Government threatens to collapse the entire system and can no longer be tolerated. While the polygraph is not infallible, its regular use would vastly improve our current situation.

Ralph Ruark Hagerstown, Md.

Monster Games

Your article "The 414 Gang Strikes Again" [Aug. 29] reveals that by inventing computers we have really created many monsters. Mastering techniques to beat the system must give the computer-hep generation a marvelous feeling of omnipotence. But keeping the hands Of these youngsters from tampering with networks is extremely costly.

Virginia Goss Sarasota, Fla. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.