Letters

JOHN F. KENNEDY JR., 1960-1999

"He was a child who belonged to all of us since that terrible day in November. My heart is broken, and this time it can't be repaired." NICOLE SCHIMMENTI Strongville, Ohio

The magnitude of the grief experienced by the people of this country with respect to the tragic loss of John, Carolyn and Lauren is extraordinary [JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY JR., 1960-1999, July 26]. May both the Kennedy and Bessette families eventually find some comfort in the amount of love that surrounds them. JOANNE MILLS Medford, N.Y.

The message of the untimely death of these three talented young people is that all we have is now. In our time of sadness, we have a compelling message to move us to live and love better. JAMES R. FISHER JR. Temple Terrace, Fla.

J.F.K. Jr. and Diana emerged successfully as shining examples most of us would hope to try to emulate. They were our bridge to the future, images of what the world would be like if we could all just be more like them. Who will now provide our daily reinforcement of class and compassion? NANCY RUYLE BAYLEY Olympia, Wash.

He was not our prince. He was our brother. He showed that Americans can have nobility. GREGORY S. ROGERS Twin Falls, Idaho

Your coverage of the latest Kennedy tragedy was very thorough. Although we never met J.F.K. Jr., he seemed to be a part of our society. MYLA FIGUEROA Manila

That dark shadow hanging over the Kennedys is not a curse, just the odds. An extremely large family with money, resources, connections, time, opportunities--and a modicum of foolhardiness-- beyond what most can afford, including taking risks and indulging in pursuits others might not even consider, is likely to face such horrors. The only curse is Damn! What's next? PATTI GARRITY Manhattan Beach, Calif.

Life is irretrievably precious. We should grieve as much for the Bessettes as for the Kennedys. VLADIMIR HACHINSKI London, Ont.

It is not the number of years we spend on this earth that counts. It's what we do while we are here that really matters. Though they died young, their lives were complete. BARBARA MURTAGH Dublin

I am sorry for the deaths of three young people and for their families, who grieve for them. But I am appalled at the extravagant outpouring of adulation. MERLIN ANDREW Toronto

The loss of one family member is hard enough to accept; to have to deal with the simultaneous deaths of three is beyond comprehension. Like so many other South Africans, I felt the Kennedy family was a part of my childhood, my teenage years and now my adult life. I have the greatest admiration for their strength of character, their determination, and above all, their kindness to those less fortunate. John Jr. typified the clan. The Kennedys can all lift their heads in pride and say, "Here was a man." VICKY SCHOEMAN Cradock, South Africa

I am tired of reading about the Kennedy-family curse. The curse that afflicts so many of the "unlucky" Kennedys is their attitude that the rules that apply to the rest of us simply do not apply to them.

John Kennedy Jr., as pilot in command of a small but powerful single-engine plane, should never have taken off in coming haze and darkness without an instrument rating. The tragedy that took the lives of his passengers and blighted those of their families could have and should have been avoided. ANNE DUTHOIT Paris

Thank you, TIME, for such a balanced feature on someone who was an ordinary person living an extraordinary life. He was close to my age, and in his life I saw my own--at times good, at times bad, always uncertain. In his death, I saw my own frailty. I felt as though he belonged to all of us. I understand the loss that Americans, along with a great number of others, must feel. Today we are all a family mourning the loss of our little boy. ROB ELFORD London, Ont.

THE TRAGEDY AND THE PRESS

Once again the media, particularly television, have churned up a politically correct, Diana-like atmosphere of nostalgic national pseudo mourning. LEONARD HILL Darmstadt, Germany

As the longtime publisher of a major magazine, I was amazed at TIME's accomplishment in putting out the issue on the J.F.K. Jr. tragedy. Few readers can comprehend the complexity of virtually full-issue editorial coverage within such a short time frame. Congratulations! BILL LANE Menlo Park, Calif.

I am appalled that you would publish a magazine in memory of John F. Kennedy Jr. before his body was found. At a time like this, a little compassion goes a long way. KITTY CLEMENTS Boston

A political cartoonist showed cable-TV reporters underwater in scuba gear, microphones extended to interview the fish off Martha's Vineyard. Yes, the J.F.K. Jr. crash was a tragedy, but the print and media coverage was excessive. PHIL COHEN Bay Harbor, Fla.

Watching TV interviews at J.F.K.'s grave site in Arlington National Cemetery and outside John's apartment in New York City, I was struck by the derisive note of the commentary: "Who are they to grieve? They didn't know him." Yes, we should weep, and we should grieve, for our country has lost its finest son; it is our turn to salute. JEAN MAXWELL Atlanta

A PRESIDENT'S SALARY

Your item listing the salaries of various heads of state [NOTEBOOK, June 7] said the President of Costa Rica earns $250,000 a year. That figure is completely off the mark. The yearly salary of Costa Rica's President amounts to $98,036--including an allowance for expenses. The President does not live in a house paid for by the government but in his private residence. In addition, all household expenditures are paid from his personal income. JAIME DAREMBLUM, AMBASSADOR Embassy of Costa Rica Washington

WIDE ON WIDE

Many readers missed the point in discussing Eyes Wide Shut [LETTERS, July 26]. The concern is not the beautiful naked people embracing but the fact that they are doing so in public as entertainment. Civilized people make passionate love, but they do it in a bedroom, not in front of a movie camera. Let's not go any further into peep show-ism. JOHN KENRICK ELLIS Sierra Madre, Calif.

It was interesting to note how many readers expected negative comments about the Cruise-Kidman cover because the couple appeared to be nude. But not even graphic copulation could save this clunker. Stanley Kubrick spent 53 months on this project, which he had wanted to produce for 28 years. I hope his demise was not triggered by seeing the end result. ARLINE MCFARLANE West Vancouver, B.C.

WORDS OF COURAGE

Lance Morrow's excellent report [CINEMA, July 19] on the recently released documentary film Return with Honor gives well-deserved recognition to the heroism of the American POWs who endured years of unspeakable torture at the hands of the North Vietnamese. In his televised interview, my father Commander Jeremiah Denton stunned and infuriated his captors by defying them directly with words that pledged his support to the American government "as long as I live."

He was tortured before the interview as a warning, and afterward as a punishment, until he nearly lost his mind. His blinking the word torture was not to meant to explain why he had given a prepared propaganda statement, as he had not. Rather, it was to cover the possibility that the communists would dub in words to replace his own defiant words and explain why he had agreed to be interviewed. My father received the highest Navy award, the Navy Cross, for his heroic words of defiance, not for his clever blinking. JAMES S. DENTON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Freedom House Washington

TAKE YOUR PICK

According to a TIME/CNN poll [NATION, July 26], 85% of Americans would like the government to mandate the right of patients to select their doctor. Will Congress give parents the right to choose their child's teacher? ALAN BONSTEEL, M.D. San Francisco