Glenn Aura

Sir:

Public enthusiasm for the space shot [Mar. 2] proves you don't have to be a Kennedy to enjoy a Glenn Aura.

S. G. HESS

Albuquerque

Sir:

To be an American at any time is a great privilege. Right now, thanks to John Glenn, it has more meaning than ever!

IRVING L. WALLENS

Brookline, Mass.

Sir:

How did Glenn make the cover? There are several Kennedys left.

W. L. FOREMAN

Memphis

Sir:

John Glenn is the fulfillment of the dream of every mother for her son.

DONNA M. HAMBRICK

Fort Sill, Okla.

Sir:

My youngest son's imagination was captured by Glenn's flight over our part of the world. During the night, Roger's alarm clock woke all the household. Then he went outside, scanning the heavens, hoping for a glimpse of his hero. Of course, the fact that the capsule passed over Woomera and Perth (hundreds and hundreds of miles away from our place) didn't deter Roger.

JEAN OLIVER

Kew, Victoria, Australia

Sir:

A 1962 version of the form of humor that was prominent 30 years ago.

J.F.K.: Knock, knock.

J.G.Jr.: Who's there?

J.F.K.: Astronaut.

J.G. Jr.: Astronaut who?

J.F.K.: Astronaut what your country can do for you but rather what you can do for your country.

JAMES H. ALBERTSON

Muncie, Ind.

Sir:

On Tuesday morning as we watched the blast-off and journey into space, how I wished I were an American.

This is a thrilling event I shall never forget.

MADELINE HERSCHEL

Regina, Sask.

Sir:

The successful launching of the first American astronaut deeply impressed me and also the people of the free world.

SOE THEIN

Mandalay, Burma

Sir:

No one can deny that the three prepublicized orbits of Glenn are equivalent to three times the 18 secret orbits of Gagarin and Titov.

FRANKLIN J. BENJAMIN

ABE F. ELISHA

Singapore

Sir:

About 1962's Man of the Year--Was the question ever settled as early as this before?

CHARLES RUTLEDGE

Muskegon, Mich.

Friends of the Deficit

Sir:

TIME'S article on National Review [Feb. 16] contains one unfortunate misstatement of fact. National Review's annual deficit is made up through the contributions of several thousands of its readers. The magazine could not survive, on the present operating basis, without their support. The Buckley family did indeed contribute a substantial sum toward the launching of National Review and its support in the first years. But the limit of this source of support has long since been reached, and National Review is indebted for its existence today to the many friends who in the past four years have continued what the Buckleys began.

WILLIAM A. RUSHER

Publisher

New York City

Japan's Boomu

Sir:

Your cover portrait of industrialist Matsushita [Feb. 23] prompts me to ask: Has he ever been known to smile--for instance, when he is counting his yummy yummy yen?

(MRS.) HELEN SINGER

Montreal

Sir:

If America is flooded with comparable and cheaper foreign goods which the consumer will buy in place of ours, industry will suffer losses, be forced to lay off employees, and possibly close shop. The country will be in a poor economic situation. Then our New Frontier wagonmasters will be forced to procure the only solution: federal control of business. America will have taken a giant step toward a welfare state.

THOMAS FRANCISCO

Chicago

Sir:

The average age of the top eight Japanese businessmen you name is 66 years. Here in the U.S., most companies expect their employees to retire at 65 or before. Could be we're losing some valuable talent.

HERBERT SOMMERS

Washington, D.C.

Diogenes, One Rare

Sir:

My thanks to you for what appeared about me in the Feb. 23 issue of TIME.

I always thought Diogenes ran a chain of hamburger stands. Imagine my joy and relief when he was properly identified.

JACK R. GAGE

Governor

Cheyenne, Wyo.

Lyndon's Image

Sir:

TIME'S effort to establish the Vice President as something other than an errand boy had a phony ring to it [Feb. 23.] If the President has expanded the role of the Vice President, it must be classified information. About the only new addition to Lyndon's position is heading the National Aeronautics and Space Council, and, no doubt, the Texan must find outer space rather lonely and cold.

On the other hand, we have the dashing Attorney General flitting from one department to another. Is Mr. Johnson so dumb that he cannot be trusted with the affairs of state? Will Bobby move up to the White House in case of presidential disability? It seems that Mr. Johnson was good enough to win the election for Mr. Kennedy, but he is not good enough to be Vice President.

DON DECKER

Pasadena, Calif.

Sir:

Despite a commendable effort to brush and polish his fading image, it now seems clear that L.B.J. is destined to occupy the obscure niche reserved for U.S. Vice Presidents during the past 173 years.

DONALD B. LEVERETT

Overton, Texas

Campus Concern

Sir:

The recent "peace march" to Washington [Feb. 23] from Harvard was sponsored by "Tocsin," an undergraduate organization committed to the idea of "unilateral initiatives" by the U.S. in furthering the drive for peace. While Tocsin has a large membership, there are surely as many of us, although not so well organized, who are violently opposed to this scheme. We are not against peace--but we cannot support a program that also must entail compromise.

DAVID R. GRAHAM '62

Harvard College

Cambridge, Mass.

Sir:

How reassuring it is that college students recognize that they are the last stronghold of free intellectual inquiry in a time of conformity. Any group that welcomes the opposition and isn't afraid to have its philosophy shaken a little deserves great respect.

SELMA ABRABEN

Miami

Sir:

Regarding the "peace marches," Mr. Chet Holifield is correct when he says: "They just I repeat what they've been told." On this campus, the advocates of the marches dream of not paying taxes for military defense and not serving in the Army.

I hope these people stay in the minority, they have an aura of Redness about them.

KENNETH L. GUSE JR. '65

Wabash College

Crawfordsville, Ind.

Sir:

If a mature student government had existed at the University of Chicago, it would not have been necessary for students to stage a "round-the-clock sit-in" to present their views to the president of their university.

ERNEST U. GAMBARO

Rome

Victim a Victim?

Sir:

TIME, in its review of the movie Victim [Feb. 23] is correct in saying that "homosexuality is a serious neurosis that attacks the biological basis of life itself." I would dispute, however, the parenthetical assertion that the neurosis is "often curable." A left-handed person who learns to use his right hand is ambidextrous, not righthanded.

DAVID PASCAL WRAY

New York City

Sir:

I commend you for presenting reports on Victim. It is one thing to sympathize with the tragic problem homosexuality poses; it is quite another to be faced with the arrogance that often characterizes it in our society.

HENRY F. WlNSLOW SR.

Baltimore

Sir:

Congratulations to the critic of Victim, who placed the reason for its immorality where it belonged. The public is alerted to fight the diseases that kill individuals, but asked to overlook and even condone an aberration that can rot a whole segment of our society. This is hardly entertainment.

MRS. CHARLES MCCARTHY

Waban, Mass.

Johnson Impeached

Sir:

In your review of Stanton: The Life and Times of Lincoln's Secretary of War [Feb. 23], your reviewer writes, "In large part, it was Johnson's attack on Stanton that led Congress to try to impeach the President. The attempt failed by one vote."

The House of Representatives did impeach Andrew Johnson. To impeach means to charge with a crime. What failed by one vote was the attempt to convict Johnson of the charges. The Senate, which has the sole right to try impeachment cases, acquitted President Johnson by a vote of 35 to 19, just one vote short of the required two-thirds majority.

GEORGE JOHNSON

Wausau, Wis.

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