Letters

THE WRITE STUFF

"Your cover boasts the most attractive-looking man I've seen in a long, long time! I like his twinkle. I like his elegance." LOIS PELLERIN Castaic, Calif.

Bravo to Paul Gray for his well-written article about Tom Wolfe's reappearance on the literary scene with his new novel, A Man in Full [BOOKS, Nov. 2]. It seems that Gray's initial nervousness about interviewing Wolfe proved to be without cause, and Gray's well-crafted prose honors his subject. Further praise for focusing on Wolfe as a writer and respecting his privacy by leaving out irrelevant details like the size of the advance he got from his publishers. DAVID GEORGE MOORE Austin, Texas

Wolfe has said he wants to write realistic novels that chronicle our times the way Charles Dickens captured the 19th century. U.S. readers showed their approval of Dickens by waiting in long lines for hours to attend his lectures and readings. In the 20th century, the sizable first printing of Wolfe's new book suggests there are at least 1.2 million readers waiting to purchase A Man in Full, the latest conventional novel about lives we can understand. LUANNE FEIK Greenville, Del.

The elegant Maurice Chevalier-like portrait of a resplendent Tom Wolfe pays homage to the dash and elan of another age. Eustace Tilley lives on! JOHN MENIG Manteno, Ill.

Doesn't anyone find it strange that over the years this man has worn white shoes, white socks, a white suit, a white tie, a pair of white gloves, a pair of white glasses...practically all the time? JOHN P. SHEEHY Larkspur, Calif.

In 1962, when Tom Wolfe first came to New York City, he bought a white silk-tweed suit to wear in the summer, and it turned out to be heavy enough to carry over into the fall and winter. Even though Wolfe is a modest, self-effacing man, he discovered that he liked being noticed for his trademark white attire, and so has continued wearing it. [Ed.]

Please explain to me (and millions of others) why Tom Wolfe's choice of clothing should be of any interest. Why do the media think we all want to look at this guy and his pompous white suits? I don't care how a writer dresses. DAVID A. LYMAN Lake Forest Park, Wash.

MICROSOFT ON TRIAL

From the preliminary evidence presented in the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust suit against Microsoft and Bill Gates (involving the company's attempts to buy off Netscape, its chief rival in the Internet browser field) [BUSINESS, Nov. 2], it would appear that Microsoft has taken a page out of the Mafia's playbook: You want to remain in business, you have to do it our way or no way. If it is true that Microsoft used these tactics, then it sure sounds similar to extortion. BRUCE L. RIVERS Tucson, Ariz.

Just for the record: in the case of the U.S. v. Microsoft, Justice antitrust chief Joel Klein is not representing my views. Go, Gates! Long live Microsoft! DAVID J. JAFFA West Friendship, Md.

After reading your article, I promptly downloaded and installed Netscape Navigator and uninstalled Microsoft's Internet Explorer. I wanted to do my part to ensure that a power-mad Gates does not control every aspect of desktop computing and the World Wide Web. Is total domination of the computer world the only thing that will satisfy this man? Not if I have anything to say about it! I hope I'm not alone. SCOTT FULLMER Delta, Utah

A HOSPITAL JUST THE WAY IT IS

Thank you for the wonderful and thoughtful piece on academic health centers and hospitals [A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF A HOSPITAL, Oct. 12]. TIME conveyed a strong sense of what we do here at Duke and how much caring for people goes on in many places like our hospital. You understood exactly what it is all about and reported it in a manner that will never cease to amaze me. No excesses or baloney, just "This is the way it is." You were able to do this because you actually took the time to live our lives during the week you were here. BOB ANDERSON, M.D., M.B.A. Professor and Chairman Department of Surgery Duke University Medical Center Durham, N.C.

You reported a complaint at Duke that physicians must "do patient evaluations in 10 minutes." In academic and private practice, there are tremendous pressures on primary-care doctors to see patients quickly. Doctors have never done a uniformly good job of listening to and answering questions, but in 10 minutes it is impossible even to get the story (patient history). Much of an accurate diagnosis comes from getting this information right. Do we doctors really think we can do as good a job in 10 minutes as in 30 or 40? We are shortchanging patients on primary-care visits and burning out doctors who try to maintain quality care and rapport with patients. KATHLEEN M. BROWN, M.D. Coos Bay, Ore.

DOMINO'S DELIVERS

Your piece on the pizza industry oddly downplayed the success of Domino's Pizza [BUSINESS, Oct. 26]. The past five years have seen Domino's grow from $2.2 billion in worldwide sales to $3.1 billion. Sales have increased more than 5% a year for the past three years, and we've opened more than 1,200 stores in 30 countries during that time. We have shown that Papa John's is not "eating our lunch." And despite the emphasis on John Schnatter of Papa John's pizza chain, Domino's Tom Monaghan will forever be the founding father and reigning king of the pizza-delivery industry. TIM MCINTYRE Vice President, Communication Domino's Pizza, Inc. Ann Arbor, Mich.

THE ROAD TOWARD PEACE

I found myself grinning with hope as I read your report on how the next generation of Israeli and Palestinian officials at the Wye River negotiations knew and respected one another [WORLD, Nov. 2]. May we get the same level of openness from their elders? Perhaps P.L.O. leader Yasser Arafat's promise to Israeli parents, on real security and constant peace, gives a hint of a proper solution to this bloody and important conflict. But not only our children's children deserve peace and security; every Israeli and Palestinian deserves them now! JUSTO ROBERTO NAVARRO New York City

Journalists appear to be unaware that while Israel has generally complied with its obligations, the Palestinians have generally ignored theirs. However, it is the U.S. that has failed most egregiously to fulfill its responsibilities. Israeli withdrawal from disputed territories by itself cannot achieve peace. A Palestinian decision to live in peace could. YALE ZUSSMAN Quincy, Mass.

A stronger Clinton would have told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to implement the treaties already signed or the U.S. would entirely wash its hands of this mess and turn it over to the U.N., where it belongs. Netanyahu would have quickly grasped such an ultimatum. But knowing that the troubled President needed a treaty and good press, Netanyahu demanded all he could get. RICHARD COOK New Bern, N.C.

It is naive to think that the Wye River Memorandum and the negotiated land swap will bring peace to the Middle East. LEON SAFRATA Willowdale, Ont.

Why does violence continue in the Middle East? Do the two sides not want to end the bloodshed that has gone on for a half-century? Evidently not, considering the way Arafat and Netanyahu are carrying on. Every time a genuine peace deal looks as if it is in the cards and the people of Israel and Palestine get their hopes up, bickering starts at the top once again. Perhaps the leaders have lost touch with the local level, where people are sick and tired of hardship and just wish for a normal life. Please, guys, get to work and sort things out. You will bring joy not only to your people but to the rest of the world as well. DAVID KENDALL Villiersdorp, South Africa

Even now, after all these accords, the Palestinians continue to incite hatred. After Wye, Israel is being required to give up more land so that the "peace" process will continue. Unfortunately, it isn't a "peace" process but a "war" policy. RON BELZER Petach Tikva, Israel

Like many other Israelis, I was ashamed at Netanyahu's insolence at Wye in linking amnesty for convicted spy Jonathan Pollard with an agreement for peace with the Palestinians. Pollard is a shameless traitor. As a civilian intelligence analyst, he betrayed the American people, the Jewish community in the U.S. and the Israeli effort to restore firm friendship with the American government. The damage that Pollard did to the mutual trust between Israel and the U.S. is almost irreversible. I hope the Clinton Administration never surrenders to pressure to release Pollard and that he stays in prison for years to come. RON SOEN Tel Aviv

PINOCHET IN THE BALANCE

In the name of the thousands of young and decent people slaughtered by former President of Chile Augusto Pinochet Ugarte [WORLD, Oct. 26] and his South American partners, justice must prevail! PAULO MACHADO SAo Paulo, Brazil

Even though it appears that Pinochet will never be tried in court, his arrest served to highlight some striking features. Can you imagine any South American country trying to put on trial the late Spanish dictator Francisco Franco? Can you imagine Spain's Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and King Juan Carlos shaking hands and having a friendly session with the cruel Cuban dictator Fidel Castro? Well, the meeting with Castro actually happened just a few weeks ago. I belong to a huge number of patriotic Chileans who saw Pinochet's arrest as an outrageous insult to our sovereignty. If there is anything we take pride in, it is the army of Chile and its former commander in chief. FERNANDO ARCOS ROMERO Santiago

I guess Spain wants to prosecute Pinochet because all those responsible for Franco's crimes are already safely behind bars, right? JAVIER GONZALEZ NICOLINI Santiago

Some years ago, the people of Chile made a pact with the devil, an inelegant pact, repugnant to all lovers of justice. But because of it, the Chileans have peace, democracy and hope for a better future. This pact is fragile. Meddling by third parties from the other side of the globe is breathtakingly mischievous. Chilean President Eduardo Frei is struggling manfully to maintain domestic tranquillity in the country, to keep a restive army in its barracks and to prevent blood from flowing once more in the streets of Santiago. JOHN RAY Fontenay-Tresigny, France

ON THE HATRED OF GAYS

As a member of the worldwide gay community, I want to express my sympathy to the family and friends of Matthew Shepard, who was killed because he was gay [NATION, Oct. 26]. The murder of this young man is a crime against humanity. I was born in an era when homosexuality was even more misunderstood than it is today, and it was a criminal offense.

Most of my life was spent in a closet of shame. I have lately had the courage to overcome my cowardice and come out. I am now able to accept my place in society honestly and openly, even though I live a celibate life and do not expect that to change. Every event of hate like this can only take us back toward the darkness of our earlier ignorance. COLIN HEWENS Katikati, New Zealand

I have just changed my mind about the death penalty. I am no longer opposed to it. And I pray that Shepard's killers will receive it. As for the beyond-the-pale jokers of the far right who flatter themselves that they are closer to God than the rest of the world, their sentences are reserved for the Last Judgment. A surprise awaits them, for God loathes hubris. RICHARD OLNEY Sollies-Toucas, France

PRACTICING WHAT THEY PREACH

I am appalled by the so-called Christians who preach "God-sanctioned" hatred [NATION, Oct. 26]. Didn't Christ preach tolerance for his fellow man, regardless of his personal life-style? JANNA PEEVLER Knoxville, Tenn.

Where in the far right's rhetoric is the grace that Jesus spoke about? CLINT FREEMAN Tokyo

SETTING FIRE TO VAIL

The ecoterrorist strike on Vail Mountain, Colo. [CRIME, Nov. 2], was the first ever on behalf of saving the lynx. Although environmentalists believe lynxes live in the area, 20 years of study failed to turn up a single lynx anywhere in the state. People need to make the connection between radicals and the money given to animal-rights groups and left-wing environmental organizations, or we'll see more fires and worse by an emboldened network of ecoterrorists. BURT CAREY, EDITOR Rocky Mountain Game & Fish Marietta, Ga.

RICK WHITE'S DIVORCE

In a caption with your story "Why the Midterms Matter" [NATION, Oct. 19], you said of my ex-husband, Republican Congressman Rick White of Washington State's 1st District, that "he's had his own marital problems: his wife recently divorced him." You didn't do your homework. The statement should have read, "He recently divorced and left his wife and four young children." VIKKI KENNEDY WHITE Bainbridge Island, Wash.