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ROBERT W. WOOD JR.
Princeton, N.J.
Sir: Just a word of thanks for the poem by Rolfe Humphries. His verse on the opening of the new Belmont was delightful and, to my somewhat ancient mind, good. I recognized all of the colors—Whitney, Morris, Colonel Bradley, King Ranch, Alfred Vanderbilt, et al. But I wonder if he didn't cheat a little bit on some horses' names. Invent, perhaps, rather than cheat. I'd like to know where Co-Educator, Petrotude and Yurup raced. I would not want to bet, you understand, Mr. Humphries has very evidently been there. But this is a good excuse to thank him for stirring the breeze of memory so that it moves a few lovely leaves on the old trees.
ROBERT F. KELLEY
Manhattan
> Poet Humphries has not only been there; he and his brother picked the name Co-Educator (by Campus Fusser out of Teddy Martin) and won bets on her at Longacres and Playfair in Spokane. Petrotude ran at California's Pleasanton Track, in the Alameda County Fair. Yurup, a grey mare, was a fast stepper at Golden Gate Fields, Vallejo and Bay Meadows in California. The two fictional horses in the poem—Right Royal and Red Ember—ran in "Right Royal," the work of another poet, John Masefield.
Creeps & Cheers
Sir: There is no item which has ever appeared in your magazine that infuriated me more than your article "Reporting" [May 31]. To interfere with a policeman doing his job by impersonating his superior officer is certainly unethical and should be illegal. But impersonating a lawyer in talking to a criminal's mother is despicable. Newsmen at the slightest pretext always spout about dedication to getting the truth to the public. How can one have any confidence in the truth of articles written by men who stoop to the rawest deceit and fraud in obtaining their stories? Do these crawly creeps become noble persons of great character and impeccable honesty when they report their findings to the public? I, for one, seriously doubt it.
EDWARD LYSEK
Chicopee, Mass.
Sir: Cheers to the reporter who gets his story, even with a bit of misrepresentation. As if he doesn't have enough problems with his overly sensitive news sources, he also has to battle the brass—especially on medium-sized dailies. The city editor says get the story, and after it's printed, the executive editor takes it on the chin from a drinking buddy up at the country club, then vents his ire on the reporter. It's enough to make a reporter leave the business. I did.
S. E. ANDERSON Monmouth, Ill.
Scorpion's Sting