Letters, Jan. 24, 1977

A New Feeling in the Land

To the Editors:

I wholeheartedly approve of your choice of Jimmy Carter for the Man of the Year [Jan. 3] I was one of the many young Americans who just didn’t give a damn in this past election.

But somehow Mr. Carter has instilled a new feeling in me—a curiosity to know what’s happening to my country, a true feeling of involvement and a feeling of trust in the one who will be heading our country.

Lynn Miller Colorado

Springs, Colo.

Naming Carter Man of the Year may be tantamount to calling the Titanic the boat of the year. Performance is measured on the high seas, not on how well something looks in dry dock.

William E. McCarron

Albuquerque

Did you ever stop to think that had it not been for President Gerald Ford, we might not have a republic!

J. Chad Anderson

Las Vegas

A man who goes from Jimmy who? to Jimmy you-know-who is the only logical choice for Man of the You-Know-What. Congratulations for picking the peanut farmer from you-know-where.

Anita Gonzalez

Houston

You goofed.

Scott Mortenson

Cerritos, Calif.

Jimmy Carter certainly meets your criterion for the selection: dominating the news of the previous year. But I also believe he will prove to be one of the best Presidents ever elected. Under Carter’s direction the U.S. may actually become the good guys of international politics instead of just claiming that position.

Daniel Salomon

Montreal

Have you changed your criterion for selecting the Man of the Year? How can you imply that this man has done the most to change the world for good or evil during 1976? He couldn’t do anything until Jan. 20, 1977.

E. James Peake

Ames, Iowa

You quoted Mr. Carter’s promise to provide “a Government as good and as competent and as compassionate as are the American people.” In these times, that isn’t very promising.

Jim Szczepaniak

Munster, Ind.

Your choice of Jimmy Carter as Man of the Year was inevitable, thank heavens, since our national soul deserves a purging and another ray of hope. However, the story ignored the significant role Rosalynn Carter has had in the life, campaign and election of her husband. This woman will show us all the real meaning of women’s liberation, for both Carters will use Jimmy’s position for the welfare of humanity.

Michael Oppenheimer

Cleveland

Jamie Wyeth’s cover has given us not only a compelling portrait of our new President but an evocative commentary on the American dream as well.

Jennifer Hamilton Calvert

McLean, Va.

Enough Hang-Ups

As if we don’t have enough sexual hang-ups already. To me Dr. Stoller is just stirring up a hornets’ nest [Jan. 3].

From now on when we have a sexual encounter, we have one more thing to ponder—is it out of “hostility, mystery, risk, illusion, revenge and the reversal of a trauma or frustration?” Who cares?

Faye Cates

Chapel Hill N. C.

The point is not whether we humans are basically kind or cruel, civilized or bestial, altruistic or selfish. We are all these things. The point is. we can choose among them.

Janine Polk Champaign, Ill.

Perhaps for an unfortunate few sex is an expression of hostility. But when one harbors hate, all one’s actions carry its flavor. Dr. Stoller, you’ve got it all wrong. We are the only species that can learn to love that which we initially dislike.

Dawn Vospalek

Chapel Hill, N.C.

Robert Stoller is correct, and the battle of the sexes continues—thank God.

Rene Lawrence

Dallas

A Unique Man

You really missed the mood of Chicago in your story on Mayor Richard J. Daley [Jan. 3]. Many of us cannot even remember anyone else as our mayor. People who never met him personally, including myself, felt a kind of closeness to this unique man. Yes, he was a powerbroker, a kingmaker, an astute politician of unparalleled ability. He was also an extremely benevolent man who put thousands of people to work, gave thousands of students free college tuition and provided service programs of unequaled magnitude. The mood of Chicago is one of shock and sadness.

Allin A. Kaplan

Chicago

I never saw any of Daley’s efficiency stop ugly crimes there.

Denny Wozniczka

Clarendon Hills, Ill.

You did not do Mayor Daley, justice. I am often baffled by the political oratory of a Kennedy, a Tunney, a Brown. Daley said it poorly—but, by God, you knew what he meant. And he did what he meant to say.

Alice Connelly Nagle

El Cerrito, Calif.

Brava, Barbra

Barbra Streisand’s A Star Is Born [Jan. 3] does not deserve the licks it has got from Jay Cocks. Even though I am too young to have seen either previous effort, I have recommended Star to everyone I know. I would go see Barbra do a cappella renditions of Three Blind Mice and Row, Row, Row Your Boat. It irks me to know that people may deprive themselves of an enjoyable movie just because of a negative review.

Paul Palmer North

Hollywood, Calif.

Facing Facts

We may not like the price hike on oil imposed by OPEC [Jan. 3). But let’s face it. from whom did the Arabs learn to charge whatever the traffic will bear if not from the American businessman? Many of these oil ministers got their training in economics and business administration in this country. Obviously they learned here more than their teachers told them. When the Arabs read that the steel industry raises prices in spite of a plea for moderation by the President-elect, that the teamsters and the auto workers unions negotiate wage increases that cannot but have inflationary results, why should they practice restraint?

Alexander W. Osborne

Tonawanda, N. Y.

Real Impact

Your perceptive and candid article concerning steel prices, “The Hardy Steel Myth” [Jan. 3], illustrates and reinforces a point that all of us in the steel business have been making: namely, that the publicity and political pressures attracted by steel-price increases are far out of proportion to the real impact such price moves have on the economy.

I have long believed that our nation would be better served if more attention were given to economic realities than to economic symbolism. In particular, perhaps the Council on Wage and Price Stability and other economic controllers should consult more closely with the Government’s own Bureau of Labor Statistics, for as you correctly pointed out, the steel-price increases that receive so much blame for inflation actually have only a very small impact on the Wholesale Price Index.

Edgar B. Speer, Chairman

Board of Directors, U.S. Steel Corp.

Pittsburgh

Sovereign Right

Headlining your article on Jamaica’s recent elections “Castro’s Pal Wins Again” [Dec. 27] carries as much relevancy as a headline “Mao’s Friend Wins Again” for an article on Nixon’s re-election to the U.S. presidency.

Jamaica has many friends. One of them is Cuba. Your coupling of Jamaica with Cuba shows up a paranoia about our country asserting its sovereign right to choose its own friends.

Bea Lim Kingston,

Jamaica

Here’s Life, America!

Your article on the “Here’s Life, America!” campaign [Jan. 3] concentrated too heavily on Bill Bright the man and on the monetary and timetable goals of Dr. Bright’s “ministry.”

The people touched by this campaign are not necessarily atheists and agnostics. They are what Dr. Bright calls carnal Christians. These people are aware of Christ but have not surrendered all aspects of their life to him and, therefore, have not experienced the abundant life that he promises.

Kenneth W. Chilton

Lake St. Louis, Mo.

Perhaps Mr. Bright should have thought of a less boastful slogan than I FOUND IT! “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” [Ephesians 2: 8-9]. Many evangelical Christians would agree that a more appropriate slogan would be HE FOUND ME!

Lauren McKinney

Carlisle, Pa.

Thank You Note

TIME has kindly lent me this space so I can thank the many thousands of you who were so kind to write to me after the Olympic Games in Montreal [Aug. 2]. Since it is really very difficult to answer personally so many letters, let me tell you here how grateful I am to you all for your friendship.

I wish you all good health, happiness and peace in the coming new year.

Nadia Comaneci

Bucharest