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Nasser's World
Sir:
Your story on "The Middle East" [March 29! is a tribute to free and responsible journalism. The article is at least 90% fair, reasonable and objective. Congratulations!
MOHAMMAD T. MEHDI Arab States Delegations Office New York City
Sir:
Nasser, as you pointed out, spends money, manpower and thinking time on uniting the Arab world. Your article gives the feeling that this is a commendable thing. But isn't Russia doing something similar in parts of Asia, and wouldn't it dearly love to have a united world, toeing the party line?
TIM G. SYMONDS Los Angeles
Sir:
Your excellent cover story will contribute much to better understanding this much maligned, much misunderstood, truly rememberable man. During a lengthy interview in 1961, Nasser told me: "I could never become a Communist for two reasons: first, I believe in God. Second, my people could not trust me if I did."
GRANT C. BUTLER* Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Sir:
I cherish Robert Vickrey's covers. But I am sorry he put Nasser's head where it obscured the Sphinx's ear. The last time I saw that ear (Easter 1960), there was a bird's nest on top of it.
W. ROBERT HOLMES Albany, N. Y.
Sir:
In which of the nations concerned did your fine March 29 cover story make the newsstands ?
HENRY W. HOLT Torrington, Conn.
> The 'issue was banned in Syria, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, but circulated in Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon.—ED.
Mother Seton's Children
Sir:
What happened to Betty Seton's five children ?
CAROL JONES West Covina, Calif.
> Two of the children died during their mother's lifetime; both were buried at the cemetery of St. Joseph's Provincial House, Emmitsburg, Md. Rebecca, the youngest, was only 14 when she succumbed to a hip injury. Anna Maria (Sister Annina) died as a novice of the order; she was not quite 17. Catherine Josephine survived her mother, became a Sister of Mercy, New York City, lived to the age of 91. One of the two sons, Richard, a bachelor, was a seaman and died at sea at age 25. He contracted a contagious disease from a minister aboard ship whom he volunteered to care for. William, who lived to 71, was the only one to marry, had seven children, four girls and three boys. His grandson Ferdinand Jevons, now 87, of Huntington, N.Y., is the only surviving direct descendant of Mrs. Seton.—ED.
In Cool Distaste
Sir:
This letter is not written in "hot haste"—it is written in cool, appalled distaste for the so-called Insider school [March 29].
Inside of what ?
This current sickness fad that portrays man as a misshapen, sluglike, soulless shape stripped of all dignity and humanism is an insult to those of us old-fashioned enough to believe that "man is created in God's own image." This studio-card art creates no pity, no sympathy, no understanding—just repugnance, despite all the loud posturing of its well-publicized practitioners.