• U.S.

Letters: Jan. 13, 1961

8 minute read
TIME

Kennedy’s Cabinet

Sir:

The apparent contradiction which Dean Rusk resolved for the Rhodes scholarship committee — “The eagle on the Great Seal has two claws, one with an olive branch and the other with arrows” — brings to mind an identical contradiction in the life of that universal genius Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo was a peace-loving man and of great heart and charity. He could not bear to see trapped animals, and he bought caged birds only to set them free. Yet he devised horrible means of wiping out the enemy. He reconciled the contradiction in this pregnant aphorism: “When besieged by ambitious tyrants I find a means of offense and defense in order to preserve the chief gift of Nature, which is Liberty.”

The adage holds for this very hour.

JULIUS SUMNER MILLER El Camino College, Calif.

¶ For one of Leonardo’s “horrible means of wiping out the enemy” see cut.—ED.

Sir:

Your story on Rusk, McNamara, Dillon & Co. really makes them sound like the “best men” kind of selections President-elect Kennedy wanted for his Cabinet.

CHARLES E. THOMAS Greenville, S.C.

Sir:

There seems to be some high-level Republican pouting because Mr. Dillon accepted a Cabinet post. As a Republican, I would like to comment to the disgruntled that Mr. Dillon is, first, an American and, second, a Republican; and he will probably serve our country well.

FRANK RANAHAN Los Angeles

Sir:

I was reassured to learn that “Father Joe Kennedy agrees” with Son Jack’s appointment of Brother Bobby [as U.S. Attorney General]. What’s good for Dad is good for the country, what?

HENRI J. BALLERAND Hong Kong

No, No Nobel

Sir:

Re TIME’S Men of the Year: To the Nobel Prize Committee, TIME Division, warmest thanks.

R. B. WOODWARD Erstwhile Non-Nobel-Prizewinning Chemist Harvard University Cambridge, Mass.

¶ TIME erred, regretfully withdraws the Nobel Prize it inadvertently awarded Chemist Woodward.—ED.

The New Churches

Sir:

A sincere waes hael to your Art editor and staff for the coverage of “The New Churches” — equally worthy for its research, copy, and pictures.

CHAPLAIN T. J. KLEINHANS Sioux City A.B., Iowa

Sir:

It is significant that two of the six contemporary churches pictured are Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod churches. We have been aptly described as the most conservative in doctrine and the most progressive in architecture. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe notwithstanding, it is not technology that is building these houses of worship, but it is devoted followers of Christ putting technology to work for the kingdom of God.

LESTER H. DUMMER Concordia Lutheran Seminary Springfield, Ill.

Sir:

I am all for the new freedom in architectural design, provided it is controlled by structure and not dedicated to the exotic.

Symbolism introduces an element beyond abstract design and structure. The symbol of the cross is the heritage of all Christians. I find the tilted cross in the interior of the Hope Lutheran Church in Daly City, Calif, disturbing, from the point of view of both design and symbolism. It introduces an asymmetrical element into an interior that, except for the sheathing, is symmetrical. I think that a vertical cross would have been better design.

FRANK J. ROBINSON

Boston

¶ The architect wanted the canted cross to suggest the upward road to Calvary.—ED.

Cordial Relations

Sir:

I have had called to my attention an article in TIME concerning the appointment of the successor to the U.S. Senate of President elect Kennedy [and reporting that Congressman McCormack was “angered” by the appointment]. Relations between President-elect Kennedy and me are very cordial, and will continue to be so.

JOHN W. MCCORMACK Majority Leader House of Representatives Boston

Nothing but the Tooth

Sir:

Your Dec. 19 medicine article was a factual report on pedodontics. I trust the public will appreciate this educational article on dentistry for children as much as the 8,000 members of the American Society of Dentistry for Children do. The relief of pain and tension in the dental office has long been one of the goals in modern dentistry.

JAMES H. SIMMONS, D.D.S. President

The American Society of Dentistry for Children Fort Worth

Sir:

It is true that the so-called “specialty” of pedodontics was created partly by default. It is also probably true that 20 or more years ago all dentists did not relish treating children. However, for at least 20 years, dental students have been trained in the techniques of working with children. The general practitioner of today, as well as the pedodontist, deserves a pat on the back for acquiring the practical, psychological as well as technical skill necessary to treat children.

PHILIP BURWASSER, D.D.S., Ph.D. Professor of Pedodontics Western Reserve University Cleveland

Sir:

What is so traumatic about the initial dental experiences? I am the mother of five eminently ‘normal’ children, and I consider trips to the dentist the least of my worries. Unless the child is a budding neurotic, he is not going to object to a man with a friendly face who only wants to look into his mouth.

PATRICIA T. HOUSE Windsor, Conn.

Sportsmen

Sir:

If American sportsmen (joke) cannot conduct themselves as true sportsmen, viz., the most recent tennis fiasco in Australia, let’s keep them home and not remove all doubt from the rest of the world as to American bad manners.

LINDA CHRISTENSEN

Howardsville, Va.

Sir:

Tennis Players Buchholz, MacKay and McKinley are not the only ones that need “a swift kick in the pants.” We should start with those responsible for allowing these “kids” to represent us.

I would rather have read that an American shed a few tears after his loss than throwing wads of toilet paper around [on an airline flight to Sydney] like a two-year-old.

NED CARUSO Saugus, Mass.

Proud Father

Sir:

Rosemary and I are very pleased and flattered that you printed the photograph of our small city-state. However, I would like to mention that this was not our personal Christmas card, but one that we sent out in behalf of the Asthmatic Children Research Institute. Also, our fourth child is named Monsita Teresa, not “Theresa.” Please forgive my pedantic insistence on correct Spanish spelling, but I’m proud of my Latin American origins.

JOSÉ FERRER Beverly Hills, Calif.

Winnie Illie Pu

Sir:

Thanks to you, my goal in Latin is to translate Winnie Ille Pu. But unless you cease to write such hilarious reviews, I shall die of split sides even before I finish the first year of Latin.

KATY REHKOPF Williamsburg, Mich.

Salve:

Volui comparare Nativitatis causa libellum unum intitulatum Winnie Ille Pu sed oleum et operam perdidi: unum non invenire potui; omnia aberant.

Itaque plus quam L Americanos libellum ilium expectavisse et delectavisse puto.*

J. O. RONALL

New York City

Sir:

Et tu, Pu?

BILL GORDON Gardena, Calif.

The Quiet Methods

Sir:

Reference the story on Captains Olmstead and McKone in TIME, Dec. 12: the Department of State has repeatedly and insistently demanded the release of the two officers and has raised the matter at the highest level in the Soviet government, as well as with ranking Soviet officials in Washington, Moscow and at the United Nations in New York.

Nevertheless, the Soviets have refused to comply with these demands. The State Department is gravely concerned at the Soviet government’s continuing detention of these two officers in direct defiance of international law and established international practice.

The fact that no publicity has been given to some of the State Department’s efforts does not mean that no action has been taken. The State Department’s guiding principle has been and is to do everything it considers most likely to result in the release of Captains Olmstead and McKone. The success of this effort depends on doing certain things quietly.

I can assure you that the State Department is fully aware of the situation of the wives and families of these officers and has every sympathy for them. They have been kept fully informed and, we believe, under stand that the U.S. Government’s efforts are directed towards obtaining the release of the two officers and are determined by its best judgment of the most effective way of accomplishing this.

ANDREW H. BERDING Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Washington, D.C.

* Sir:

I wanted to get the little book Winnie Ille Pu for Christmas, but I lost time and trouble: I was not able to find one; they were all gone.

Therefore I think that more than 50 Americans waited for and delighted in that little book.

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