In Memoriam Sir: The enormous swell of sympathy and despair that has risen throughout this nation and the world is testimony to these overwhelming aspects of John F. Kennedy --he had within him a sense of greatness; he bestowed upon the presidency a literate, a sensitive and even a poetic value. These values were considered by most people to evidence brilliance and genius. It is this that transcends politics and nationality--the tragedy of his untouched capacities.

H. PETER KAROFF

Watertown, Mass.

Sir: I did not vote for John F. Kennedy. But that murderer killed MY President.

HAROLD O. SANBORN

Beddington, Me.

Sir: I always used to think of President Kennedy as a Madison Avenue charlatan and agreed with very few of his ideas, but now I find myself asking: What can I do for my country?

THOMAS P. SHEAHEN

Boston

Sir: I feel sadness not just for the late President and his family, but for all of mankind. It is suddenly brought to our attention in a jolting and terrifying way that, in spite of our wondrous technological achievements, we are little more than barbarians who haven't as yet learned to live successfully with our fellow men.

LARRY HENDERSON

Ibiza, Balearic Islands

Sir: You stated in the article about students [Nov. 22], that the feeling of the collegian toward President John F. Kennedy was one of disenchantment, and that the collegian thought of President Kennedy and his proposals as being "meatball."

If this was the case of collegians throughout the U.S., I believe that it was changed by his death. Deep feelings for a great man were shown on this campus as, I am sure, they were on all campuses and in all places throughout the world that knew Mr. Kennedy.

GORDON DUKE

Georgetown College

Georgetown, Ky.

Sir: I truly do not care for any man who would parcel out my God-given liberties. I am a black man whose patience has run out, and I criticized John F. Kennedy until that day his murder shocked me into despair. Suddenly I felt that he was certainly a champion for all men and that he had been struggling in a sea of hatred.

DAN SIMMONS

Jamaica, N.Y.

Sir: Mark how Shakespeare predicts such occurrences as this assassination, which one would think was a rare and most improbable event. Brutus, at the body of the murdered emperor, says:

. . . How many ages hence

Shall this lofty scene be acted over

In states unborn and accents yet

unknown.

JOSEPH LEWIS

Purdys, N.Y.

The City & The State

Sir: We as Texans are gravely sorry this terrible deed has been committed in our state, but more so that it was committed in our country, a country supposedly above this sort of deed.

SHEREY WHITEHEAD

Fort Worth, Tex.

Sir: The city of Dallas paved the way for the tragic event here. Being a lifetime Dallasite, I am so ashamed.

For several years I have seen the seed of hate being planted by our newspapers and many of the leaders of Dallas. No matter what the President has been for, these people have been against.

As a teacher in Dallas I have tried to instill in my students a respect for the leaders of our country. How can they ever grow up to be good citizens when the newspapers, their parents, and the leaders of their own city preach dissension? I cannot understand these people.

Don't let anyone fool you. Dallas is as responsible as anyone, if not through action, through apathy.

MRS. ELEANOR COWAN

Dallas

Sir: Just as it was easy to sit on the sidelines and find fault with the decisions of our late President, so is it now easy to second-guess those responsible for law enforcement in Dallas.

Any objective appraisal will confirm that the police department and sheriff's office are staffed with dedicated, competent men who have done an outstanding job in law enforcement. Previous actions of right-wing fanatics in Dallas should not result in a blanket indictment of a fine citizenry, its leaders or law enforcement officers.

One brave officer gave his life; the others offered theirs.

In a quote that John F. Kennedy himself might have used: "Let him that is without sin cast the first stone."

DAVID H. BROWN

Attorney at Law

Sherman, Texas

Far Right, Far Left Sir: Speaking not only as an American but as a Republican, I pray that after the horrible evil of President Kennedy's assassination the American people will feel revulsion at the supporters and proponents of the foul extremes of right and left--the Birchers, the Goldwaters, the far-out liberals and the Communists--and then rededicate themselves to the spirit and ideals of the American Revolution and of Lincoln.

JOSEPH W. KIMMEL

Villanova, Pa.

The News

Sir: As one who has on occasion been critical of television's shortcomings, I believe the broadcasting industry should be commended for its mature, sensitive coverage of pur national tragedy. Through calm, dignified and steady devotion to the sad task at hand, television enabled the country to witness the example of a family of valor and the enduring strength of our democratic institutions. At a time of critical national transition, television grew up.

NEWTON MINOW

Chicago

Sir: The excellent news coverage cannot cleanse television of its share of the responsibility.

The overemphasis on violence in programming produces successive blueprints for crime. Even heroic (?) westerns succeed only in showing shooting as the substitute solution for law and order. The gun is still illustrated as the authoritative symbol; and the sop of the fortuitous foiling in the final scene is simply a sneer at society.

I wonder what are we doing to ourselves.

GORDON LEVOY

Beverly Hills, Calif.

Sir: On a radio commentary show I had bitterly assailed the late President for what I felt was a lack of leadership. But on that fatal Friday, I was in my study preparing next week's commentary commending Kennedy for his strong handling of the Barghoorn case. I was so shaken by the news that I could not complete the script. As many of us feel when someone is gone, I wanted to say something good about a person while he was still alive. I regret that this is not now possible.

JEFF ST. JOHN

Crossroads

WNCN-FM

New York City

From Abroad

Sir: It might be a small token of consolation if we let you know that behind the official messages sent by the representatives of our country the deep feelings of a personal loss by our people are hidden.

In many homes the happy occupations on the eve of a weekend were interrupted to make place for thoughts of sadness.

A. H. J. VAN HETEREN

Voorschoten, The Netherlands

Sir: I am from India, but I can't stand this. I adored Jack Kennedy. And I adore Jackie. The thought of any other President and First Lady is unbearable. What a terrible death to die at so young an age. And I thought America was civilized.

RANI DHARKER

London

Sir: We South Africans of all races express our sympathy to the First Lady and to the American nation. It's a pity that good men die young and tyrants live long.

H. H. LAKHANI

Durban, South Africa

Sir: I have never admired the American people more than after watching how closely they united to mourn the late President Kennedy's death.

ALEX RETI

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Sir: "Ich bin ein Berliner," he said, and in the hearts of the Berlin people he really was and will be forever.

The free world has lost its leader, Berlin its great friend.

CHRISTA ARND

ULRICH LORENZ

Berlin

Sir: Outrageous beyond speech is the criminally careless handling of assassin Oswald.

Our relatively young Israeli police force handled the Eichmann case with far greater efficiency. He was transferred several times without fanfare. And many were there who wanted--understandably --to kill him. Yet he was duly tried, convicted and executed.

ERWIN B. STERN

Tel Aviv, Israel

Sir: I have seen with my own eyes many people crying. Our city is flying flags at half-mast. I hope that the American people will realize that they are greatly esteemed in this country.

RAUL BROCKMAN

Santiago de Chile

Sir: Let Americans mourn their President John F. Kennedy with heads held high. I dare anyone to say there will not be another Lincoln in due time.

SEOSAM P. O SEACNASAIG

County Galway, Ireland

Sir: Pakistanis share the grief of Americans at the loss of President Kennedy's life at the hands of an assassin. May God bestow sanity to all who plan such dastardly deeds.

Q. A. RAHMAN

Dacia, Pakistan

Sir: Please have on your next TIME cover Jackie Kennedy--a symbol and an example. We feel admiration, sorrow, deep sympathy and love for her.

JEAN CLAUDE SERVAN-SCHREIBER

Administrator

Les Echos

Paris

Sir: The whole world mourns with the American people for their tragic loss. I wish to convey my deepest sympathy.

KONOSUKE MATSUSHITA

President

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.

Tokyo

Mrs. Kennedy

Sir: I, and a million British women, have no words to express our grief. Our hearts go out to Mrs. Kennedy. The pride she must feel cannot fill an empty heart.

MARY PATCHETT

London

Sir: As surely as John Fitzgerald Kennedy showed us how to live life, Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy showed us how to accept tragedy. These two unforgettable Americans have graced us with a new heritage.

R. E. McDoNOUGH

Fairhope, Ala.

Sir: Like all Americans, I am proud of our beautiful, gracious, courageous Jacqueline Kennedy. But let us also remember with our tears and prayers the two other young widows and their children: Mrs. Tippit, widow of the brave policeman, and Mrs. Oswald, who is alone, bewildered, unable to speak our language, and far from her native land. She can never tell her children, as Mrs. Kennedy and Mrs. Tippit can, that their father was a fine man. Bereavement, when shame is added to it, must be almost more than the soul can bear.

HARRIOT HOWZE JONES

El Paso, Texas

Sir: President Kennedy's Profiles in Courage needs an added profile--that of his wife Jacqueline.

CLAIRE GAHAN

Gardner, Mass.

Sir: What would be more fitting than to create a new office, one sorely needed in this country, of, say, Secretary of the Arts, and offer it to Jacqueline Kennedy?

She has done much to restore the prestige of the arts.

EDWARD C. HARRIS

Chicago

Sir: I would like to propose that the next Man of the Year be the Woman of the Year. There is only one woman, in my opinion, who merits this honor. She is Mrs. John F. Kennedy. Her conduct in the face of tragedy is an example for all Americans to follow.

JOHN C. HARALSON

San Francisco

Man of the Year

Sir: You must make your first posthumous Man of the Year Award. If your criterion is "the person who has done the most to change the world for good or evil," there can be no disagreement that John F. Kennedy--by his almost incomprehensible death--has changed the world beyond measure. No other single event in many years has so decisively and abruptly altered the course of world events.

R. M. CARTER

Morgantown, W. Va.

Sir: You have your Man of the Year. John F. Kennedy, my recent Commander in Chief.

PFC Louis LOPEZ

U.S. Marines

Camp Lejeune, N.C.

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