The Man & the Portrait
Sir:
Though I approve of your choice of President Kennedy as Man of the Year, his portrait on the cover makes me recoil and shout like Macbeth upon seeing the ghost of Banquo:
Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold;
Thou has no speculation in those eyes . . . DOROTHY WHITE
North Charleston, S.C.
Sir:
About the fellow on the cover of your magazine. I mean, is it all right if we take an offering and buy him a new shirt, suit, comb and maybe even throw in a few extra bucks so he can get a haircut and some coffee? I mean, golly, after this, who is going to run for President?
(THE REV.) JAMES M. DECKER The Reformed Church of Deerpark Port Jervis, N.Y.
Sir:
Pietro Annigoni's ruthless brush speaks silently and shockingly of the physical toll a man gives in the presidency. Shall the Man of the Year now be haltered by denial of the help he asked for in his Inaugural?
MRS. W. B. EARL
Summit, N.J.
Sir:
Kudos to TIME for naming the New Frontiersman as Man of the Year. His prodigious, close-knit family from Caroline to Joe, his self-confidence, his ailing back, his Peace Corps, the Honcyfitz, Hyannisport, his struggle with the Syth Congress, and his many vigorous bouts with his alliterative foe in the Kremlin have dominated the 1961 news.
GEORGE RICE
Sacramento, Calif.
Sir:
Any "artist" who can make a portrait of our President look like one of Quasimodo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) should be boiled in his own oils.
ELEANOR KOGEN LAPINSKY
St. Paul, Minn.
Sir:
There must be truth in Artist Annigoni's comment on the President: ''He didn't smile very much while I was there."
If Mr. Kennedy saw the painting, I can understand why.
GEORGE R. LEWIS La Puente, Calif.
Sir:
At first, we were shocked by your cover but it catches Kennedy's spirit and personality beautifully, and this is more important than just a flattering, realistic rendering. This painting should hang in the White House or the National Gallery, where future citizens can see it. It's a masterpiece.
MR. & MRS. RICHARD NELSON New York City
Sir:
Re your cover of Jan. 5:
Annigoni—Baloney!
MRS. H. L. SIIPOLA Long Beach, Calif.
Sir:
Never before, except in the photographs of Lincoln, have I seen the solemn responsibilities of the presidency more aptly reflected.
Not only is it an intimate glimpse of the President, but also a grim reminder of the immense burdens that rest upon his shoulders in his great task of guiding the world farther away from mankind's final tragedy and nearer to his greatest triumph—bringing peace to all men of all nations.
C. W. HARRIS Woodlynne, N.J.
Sir: