The Bombing
Sir: What absolute horror and senselessness is involved in the bombing of guiltless children—each a child of God, and of its mother and of our country. These are our children, bound to us in a multihued humanity!
And above all, this is our guilt for allowing such atrocity to take place.
ROSEMARY SOLE OLSTOWSKI
Freeport, Texas
Sir: In the atmosphere of unrestricted violence that has existed in Alabama, the bombing of the children at Sunday school was almost inevitable. Although the Governor's consistent and thoroughly predictable attitude has certainly contributed to the disgraceful situation, the ultimate authority, and therefore responsibility, has always been President Kennedy's. His spineless, "politically expedient," too-little-too-late policy can only have encouraged the extremists and fanatics.
RALPH KEEMEYER Mexico City
Cinema's New Status
Sir: My compliments to Mr. Darrach for his superb article "A Religion of Film" [Sept. 20]. It leaves only one thing to be desired: the names of the young lovers in Knife in the Water. How could TIME put an attractive couple on the cover and fail to mention their names?
ROBERT ORESKO
Tenafly, NJ.
> Poland's Jolanta Umecka and Zygmunt Malanowicz.—ED.
Sir: With one or two exceptions, the films you covered are cheap, shabby productions with cheap, shabby stories about cheap, shabby and mostly immoral people.
JOHN PETER DURAK
New York City
Sir: You should have fired Movie Critic Brad Darrach the day he slept through The Horse Soldiers and killed off John Wayne. We saw the flick, and Darrach was never again consulted.
KEN SCHULTZ
Weston, Conn.
Sir: "A Religion of Film" is a timely analysis of the emergence of a real 20th century art. The sensitive director is given the opportunity to express his feelings about life, about death, about man. Truly this must be essential in these times, for if people can see and comprehend how others feel and act and react, cannot they better understand themselves and humanity?
ALLAN R. FOLSOM
Beverly Hills, Calif.
Fallout & the Eskimos
Sir: Congratulations on your sensible article discussing the potentially dangerous problem that the Alaska village of Anaktuvuk Pass has with fallout [Sept. 13].
The contamination in the Arctic is not only an American problem. Similar high levels of cesium 137 have been found in Scandinavia among the Laplanders. These countries have kept close watch on the problem for several years.
Until last year, our knowledge of the contamination of the Arctic food chain was nonexistent. There is now before the AEC for approval a proposal for a comprehensive program of research on the contamination of Alaskan Arctic fauna and flora. This proposal has been pending for months. It must be approved and shortly.
E. L. BARTLETT U.S. Senator (Alaska) Washington, D.C.
Sir: I personally know Simon Paneak (head of the Eskimo village of Anaktuvuk Pass), and I have high respect for him.
It may interest you to know that this Eskimo kept daily records for 15 years on the number and behavior of all the different species of migratory and nesting birds in his area.
HENRY S. FORBES
Milton, Mass.