Inbox

Embracing the Silver Strands
Thanks to Anne Kreamer and TIME for the article on whether women should color their hair [Sept. 10]. I’m 57 and started dyeing my hair in my mid-30s. When I turned 50, I decided that since I’d been a grandma from age 39, it was time I looked like one. Coloring your hair is a pain in the arse, as the Irish say. Your roots grow out in a week or two, and you have to touch them up or look like a skunk. Surely women have become liberated enough to do what they want. But if they decide to fake it, they should use a lighter dye to make it look more natural.
Lisa Singer-Hamilton,
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.

I am 38 years old, and I don’t understand what the big deal is over going gray. I’ve been getting steadily balder since I hit 30, and my remaining hair is turning gray. When I was growing up, my father made and serviced toupees. I thought they were ugly and reflected the wearer’s incredible insecurity. I feel the same way about hair dye for men and women. Being who you are rather than putting up some kind of faade shows much stronger character. By all means, dress well, and stay healthy and fit. But dyeing your hair is right up there with dressing like a teenager when you are 40. For those who claim it’s different for women, I respectfully reply that it shouldn’t be — and perpetuating the supposed difference won’t help.
Steve Rummel,
Chicago

I read “The Gray Wars” with smug amusement. When my glorious mane of auburn hair started turning gray more than 15 years ago, I tried to maintain it artificially and was mortified by the black-and-purple results. I had it hacked off, and that was the end of the bottle for me. Boomers need to realize that if we fulfill our life expectancy, we will be gray much longer than we were brunet, blond or auburn. Embrace the silver. People will choose to be around you if you are adventurous and love life. You can’t buy that in a bottle.
Kathy Pippin,
Cookeville, Tenn., U.S.

Healing Currents
Congratulations to Jeffrey kluger for his article “Rewiring the Brain,” about how deep-brain stimulation with electric current can help treat the tremors of Parkinson’s disease, among other possible applications [Sept. 10]. I’ve had Parkinson’s for nearly 12 years, so I know the crazy ways the incurable disease chips away at my brain’s control center. Stories like yours give all of us with Parkinson’s hope. With the help of a charismatic personal trainer at my local ymca fitness center, I’ve learned to face up to this awesome disease by fighting back to reclaim my balance and range of motion. It’s not easy, but it is satisfying when the hard work pays off.
David H. Anderson,
Sarasota, Fla., U.S.

They’ve Got Game
Lev Grossman painted a wonderful picture of Halo 3, making it sound like the next game of the year [Sept. 10]. He stated that the story is “rich and complicated in ways that we’re not used to in video games.” But long before Halo 3 was conceived, there were The Legend of Zelda and the Castlevania and Metroid series. Even the more recent Mario games have a deep story line. Halo‘s formula is to introduce a masked spaceman hero, put him on a strange outpost in space and antagonize him with aggressive aliens.
Adrian Goldberg,
Laguna Hills, Calif., U.S.

Grossman referred to hard-core video-game fans as “an invisible subculture.” Here I am, 24 years old, loving life. I’ve got a great job and a huge circle of great friends, and I will be getting my M.B.A. in a couple of years. I know a bit about art and music, and I get daily updates on world events. And I love video games. How is a well-crafted game (of which there are a good bunch) different from a good novel?
Angel Darquea,
Santa monica, calif., U.S.

On Chávez Time
Why don’t we join Venezuela and put our clocks back 30 minutes this fall — and leave them there [Sept. 3]? The one-hour change each fall and spring is an unnecessary annoyance. Although it was a useful idea for wartime factory workers, today it is only a pain. Ask any parent with young children.
Georgia Gibbs,
Victoria, Canada

Mending Limbs and Lives
I enjoyed reading about the prosthetics designed to help amputee animals keep moving [Sept. 3]. (But if the author thinks readers will go so far as to endorse prosthetic dog testicles, she should think again.) This article implies that work with animal prosthetics exceeds advances in human ones. As an 82-year-old amputee, I’ve witnessed fantastic advances in prosthetic design. My current artificial leg uses electromagnetics and scanning to fit the specific contours of my stump. Prosthetics specialists are to be commended for the time, analysis and effort they put into getting each patient moving effectively — and for realizing that no two patients have exactly the same needs.
Bing Grindle,
Roanoke, Va., U.S.

Strength Through Suffering
David van Biema’s article on Mother Teresa was a spiritual meditation in itself [Sept. 3]. His insights and parallels with other mystics of the church, especially John of the Cross, come through effortlessly. As for Mother Teresa, she took a vow of poverty, in her case manifested as spiritual poverty. She demonstrated that our greatest crosses turn into our greatest strengths.
Tom Prendeville,
Dublin

As a woman and a Christian, I greatly enjoyed your story. Anyone familiar with helping the poor and desperate through missionary or NGO work, knows that, if done alone, it can take a lot out of you, physically and mentally. To read both about Mother Teresa’s doubt and fears, as well as her total commitment, was truly inspiring.
Lee Ying,
Singapore

The face of Mother Teresa on your cover said it all. It revealed that what she wrote about the darkness in her soul for almost 50 years was the truth. Thank you for showing us the outstanding portrait of that much admired, mysterious nun. It seems as though the sadness of the whole world was mirrored in those eyes.
Father Albert Herold,
Order of Saint Benedict,
Mtunzini, South Africa