Now Is the Time
Sir:
Re Dulles' statement [Sept. 14] on the Chinese Communists: at last, a Secretary of State and Government that let the world know where we stand.
For 15 months we lived under the Communists in China. Constantly students came to me, asking: "What does America think of this?" "What will America do about this?" I had to admit that I did not know. They never had to ask that about Russia. Everyone knew . . .
I do not agree with everything Secretary Dulles says, but I am tired of diplomatic doubletalk. We do not have to be blunt and offensive, but it is time we were honest.
(THE REV.) OSCAR A. GUINN JR.
The Parkman Street Methodist Church Dorchester, Mass.
Tribute to Skinny
Sir:
May I compliment you upon your article [Sept. 14] in tribute to General Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV, my honored and beloved uncle? This was not only an outstanding piece of journalism—crisp and straight to the point (as Skinny himself always was), but it is also the only account which my mother (his sister) and I have so far read which . . . does not contain some slight error or inconsistency. Moreover . . . it projected that ringing thing which was Skinny's peculiar genius—that steadfast belief in and love of his country (a composite emotion, nobler even than the love of man for woman, or of mother for child). I hope your delineation of his character and life has served to give the mushy middle of our citizenry some pause.
I'm glad you started the piece with Fiddlers Green. Skinny used to recite this to us sometimes, over a glass of "bourbon and creek-water," after another funny poem about the mechanized cavalry, Alowishius Gas N' Oil* ... I wish you could have seen him once as I did at a Hollywood party, after all the egomaniacs had pitched their latest promotion line, as he stood very straight and sang Should auld acquaintance be forgot with tears in his eyes, thinking of those men who died beside him . . .
BETTY MEARS
Bel-Air, Calif.
Pretty Antidote
Sir:
My sincere congratulations for your article on Miss Audrey Hepburn [TIME, Sept. 7]. Such a stimulating antidote to all the recent publicity, relating to a sad analysis of the deterioration of values among a fraction of our womanhood . . .
DR. L. F. V. P. VANDERHORST
Sunmount, N.Y.
Sir:
. . . You quote some fellow [Producer William Wyler] who asserts that "that girl is going to be the biggest star in Hollywood" . . . When you come to think that Jean Simmons was only 18 when she gave her brilliant performance in Sir Laurence Olivier's Hamlet, you start wondering whether [24-year-old] Miss Hepburn hasn't started too late . . . Her soulful looks will take her far. She's pretty . . . But I'd like to see her future work way over par before taking my hat off to her . . .
ELMER JACKSON
Madison, Wis.
Sir:
I am writing to thank you for providing me with one of the major thrills of my career: your cover and story in TIME. It is hard to say quite what I feel, but I would like you to know my sincere and grateful appreciation. Nothing could be more exciting, and no one could be happier than I.