After the Count

Sir:

Now that the shouting and the tumult has ceased, one can reflect on how pleased Lincoln, The Rail Splitter, would be to know, 100 years later, that any poor little American boy may still be elected President of the United States.

H. A. BREEN Prince Rupert, B.C.

Sir:

When the Philadelphia Main Liners refused admittance to the Irish Catholic Kellys, Papa only bought Grace a harmless, quaint little kingdom, and we were all amused and entertained.

However, when Back Bay excluded the Irish Catholic Kennedys and Fitzgeralds from their blueblood clubs, Papa--through Bobby--bought Jack a presidency. Shame on you, Beacon Hill! This is all your fault!

DOROTHY R. OSBORNE Rochester

Sir:

May I say "well done" to the people of America for their good sense in rejecting the long-established edicts of prejudice and bigotry and electing Senator Kennedy as President of the U.S. In Australia, it is not the religion of a candidate but his policy that secures his election. We have had several Roman Catholic Prime Ministers.

S. RICHARDSON Burnie, Tasmania

Sir:

I realize why Senator Kennedy might have thought it wiser to leave the mention of God out of his campaign, but now, since his victory, it saddens me to see that the future President of our country could not find it in his heart to say that "with the help of God" he would try to be a wise leader.

YVONNE KING COURTNEY Las Vegas, Nev.

Sir:

At last! The rare combination of brains and beauty enters the White House.

BEVERLY A. MARSDEN Los Angeles

Sir:

A possible eight years as President and then what? A political has-been at 51.

ARMENY APKARIAN Providence

Man of the Year

Sir:

Permit me to nominate for TIME'S Man of the Year that young chap . . . whatshisname . . . oh you know . . . the one who was in all the papers so much last week . . . uh, that boy from Massachusetts . . . won a lot of elections and all that . . . oh you know . . . used to be in the Navy . . . Kennedy . . .

DEANE MORRISON Saint Albans, W. Va.

Sir:

I nominate the American voter for Man of the Year.

JACQUES A. SIDI Casper, Wyo.

Sir:

News in 1960 was made by Dick and Jack together, therefore name them Men of the Year.

CARLOS V. FERRER Mexico City

Sir:

Richard M. Nixon: for the grit, courage, guts and glory displayed in not conceding to a false image.

WILLIAM MLYNEK Albuquerque

Sir:

. . . Dag Hammarskjold for his courage and for his tireless efforts to make this world a safe place.

STEPHEN H. SIMON Bloomington, Ind.

Sir:

For his action in the face of Mr. Khrushchev's personal insults at the "torpedoed" summit meeting, I offer President Dwight Eisenhower as Man of the Year!

ALICE LARRIPA Metuchen, N.J.

Strong & Clear

Sir:

I commend the writer on the brilliant character study of Lerner and Loewe. It is one of the few times a TIME article has given an honest picture (three dimensional) and insight into the character and personality of celebrities! Most times there is a tendency to glorify those at the pinnacle of success in the theater. It is good to see that they are just as neurotic as we down here at the bottom (healthy neurotics, if there is a difference).

MILTON POLSKY Hollywood

Sir:

The full failure of our society can be seen in your article on Lerner and Loewe. What standards have we set that men who have made their mark are forced or compelled as peasant boys to boast, to proclaim their sexual prowess? Have we reached a state where stud ability has become the endorsement of a successful career?

PATRICIA KNEALE Toronto

Sir:

I was fascinated by your Camelot story. It brought back gleeful memories of being bound in chain armor to play King Arthur himself (because I had the deepest voice in the class of girls) in Sir Henry Irving's version of the play with the same name.

What puzzles me is why Fritz Loewe did not mention his wonderful music in Victor McLaglen's The Informer, long before his success in Brigadoon.

VIRGINIA BRONSON LEIBER Pacific Palisades, Calif.

P: Max Steiner scored The Informer, a prize-winning movie, 1935.--ED.

Sir:

We know and admire the talents of Lerner and Loewe--did we ask for a biography ? Since when does this add to the creativity of musicals like My Fair Lady and Camelot?

Anyway, give me Rodgers and Hammerstein any evening.

ROSALIND GABERMAN Brooklyn

Sir:

Your writer must have searched his soul and thesaurus long and hard before referring to Lyricist Alan Lerner's succession of therapists as a "pride of analysts." Pride of lions, yes; brace of quail, covey of partridges, indeed; but surely there can be no exact usage other than to refer to a group of my esteemed colleagues as a couch or complex of analysts. The term clutch has been proposed, but is clear evidence of resistance.

HAROLD A. RASHKIS, M.D. Jenkintown, Pa.

Dear Departing

Sir:

When Jubilee Magazine takes modern funeral homes to task for surrounding death with a party atmosphere, it seems to forget that time-honored Roman Catholic custom: the wake. So let Jubilee stop wagging a disapproving finger. By providing a lounge equipped with cocktail table and smoking facilities, the funeral home is simply carrying on an old Catholic tradition.

JEAN M. WHELAN Westbury, N.Y.

Sir:

The Jubilee article is pure character assassination. Untruthful, unfair and uncalled for. What made you print such stuff?

SYDNEY RUSSELL Publisher Casket and Sunnyside New York City

Sir:

The readers of TIME should be very grateful for your perceptive and courageous article on "The Death Industry." I am reminded with real sorrow of the thousands of our most precious young men who died and were buried in alien lands with no better than an Army blanket to wrap them in. Why are we so much better than they, or have a better future, because we lie in moisture-proof vaults in mahogany caskets?

LAWRENCE D. GRAVES Congregational Christian Minister U.S. Army Chaplain (retired) Muncie, Ind.

Sir:

Let's get back to funerals in our churches, with a minimum of adiaphora and a return to the real emphases which give genuine comfort to a mourning family.

THE REV. GEORGE F. SPIEKER Pastor Robeson Evangelical Lutheran Church Mohnton, Pa.

Straight & Tall

Sir:

Your article "Spines of Steel" was of great interest to me, since it was just three months ago that I had a full body cast removed, which I had worn following two spinal fusions (ten vertebrae) 10 1/2 months before.

I would like to point out that the method of spinal fusion and wearing of the body cast is not as frightening as your article would have it sound. I missed very little school, participated in the usual social activities, including dancing, of any seventh grader.

I am 13 years old now. I have good posture, and I shall always be grateful to my very fine orthopaedic surgeon, who is responsible for my growing tall and straight.

CORNELIA KAY GRAHAM Kalispell, Mont.

Sir:

You were entirely wrong when you wrote that "some ailments seem almost preferable to their cures." I had scoliosis two years ago and I will never regret the year I spent in my "turtle" and other casts.

NANCY SPARROW Old Greenwich, Conn.

Sir:

As a colleague of Doctor Paul R. Harrington, I know that he would join me in wishing that TIME had also recognized the March of Dimes (The National Foundation) as the organization which supported the basic research and clinical investigation for this surgical approach to scoliosis.

WILLIAM A. SPENCER, M.D. Texas Institute for Rehabilitation and Research Houston

Election Extra

Sir:

Congratulations on your most interesting and complete TIME Election Extra. It arrived at this home just 37 hours after the close of the California polls (PST).

(MRS.) GWYNETH BOMBARD Springfield, Mass.

SIR:

TIME'S INNUENDO ABOUT MURROW'S FAILURE TO APPEAR ELECTION NIGHT IS SLANDEROUS. IS DOUBLE VIRUS PNEUMONIA NOT ENOUGH, OR DOES TIME INSIST ON TERMINAL-STAGE CANCER? MURROW HAS DONE MORE FOR BROADCAST JOURNALISM THAN ALL THE REST OF US COMBINED.

ERIC SEVAREID CBS LONDON

P: I TIME reported Murrow "bedded down with pneumonia" on election night in line with CBS's own statement that he had developed a "touch of pneumonia." TIME stands by its more general diagnosis, to wit: that CBS is no longer wholly responsive to Murrow's ideas and does not always use him to best advantage.--ED.

Sir:

In the early days of American newspapers, if a big news story broke late or the editor wished to give it special emphasis, he ran it under the caption "Extraordinary Intelligence." As time went on, this cumbersome phrase was reduced to the simple word extra, came to mean a special edition to report some late-breaking, important news.

In this latter sense TIME was justified in calling its special edition an Election Extra.

GRANGER P. MITCHELL Boulder, Colo.

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