Letters

Our annual roundup of the 100 most influential people provoked lively challenges to our choices and keen appreciation for the diverse talents that are promoting change throughout the world

Thank you for including a diverse group of influential people in your Time 100 list [May 8]. I was especially delighted to see the story on the South Korean pop star Rain. His fame across Asia and the upcoming release of his English-language album show that pop culture no longer moves strictly from West to East. I don’t speak Korean, but like many Asian Americans, I am attracted to Asian entertainers. Janet Vo
Boston

As a college student struggling to decide what to do with my future, I very much appreciated your list of the 100 most influential people. It was inspiring to see that all 100 people who influence society in so many different ways have at least one thing in common: passion. Your article reminded me that the most important thing is not what I do; I just need to love doing it. Lydia Kim
Evanston, Illinois, U.S.

It is good to know that American stars such as Angelina Jolie and George Clooney are using their public prominence to address serious problems. Celebrities who choose to get involved in pressing social issues can raise awareness and inspire others to take positive action. Depicting Jolie as a puffy-lipped, pregnant Virgin Mary, however, was a wee bit overboard. Jack Gordon
Sewickley, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Time’s idea of influence shows a Western perspective and includes mostly people from the U.S. The world is much bigger than that. A list of the top 100 influential people on each continent would give a better picture of who really influences world events. Paul van Wijgerden
Almere, the Netherlands

Joel Stein’s “Meet the other 100” gave me a great idea: to make a list of the people who matter most to me. I wish I had started that list a long time ago. At my age, 75, not everyone on my list is alive today, which is regrettable. I never took the trouble to tell a high school teacher or a business mentor or a beloved grandfather what a significant influence each had on my life. I urge young people to make a list every 10 years and make sure you take the time to tell those people why they have had an influence on your life. All will be better for having done so. Nelson M. Fellman
Voorhees, New Jersey, U.S.

Rocky Relations
Re your story on the dispute between South Korea and Japan over the Dokdo/Takeshima islands [May 8], South Korea continues to mistrust Japan more than 50 years after World War II because it continues to print government-approved school textbooks that whitewash the rape of Nanjing, colonial slave labor and the abduction of girls across Asia (including Korea) to serve as prostitutes for its soldiers. Ian Haight
Pusan, Korea

You failed to mention the Japanese proposal back in 1954 to bring the matter to the International Court of Justice. That could have ended the conflict in a peaceful manner, but the Korean government refused the proposal. I have nothing against the Koreans, but any action that evades international law should not be overlooked and left unquestioned. Kenta Suzuki
Tokyo

Setting the Record Straight Picture this
Our May 8 story on Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield, the founders of Flickr, a photo-sharing website, incorrectly stated that the idea for Flickr came from an engineer who created an easy way to post pictures on the Web. The idea was entirely Butterfield’s.