Chile's Coup

Sir / So the U.S. knew of the impending Chilean coup before it happened but did nothing [Oct. 1]. I marvel that we spent tens of billions to fight for "democracy" in Viet Nam, but wouldn't spend 10-c- for a warning phone call to the democratically elected President of Chile!

WILLIAM WILKE

Madison, Wis.

Sir / It is ironic that the international left is complaining about Allende's overthrow when all the Chilean army did was accept the Mao doctrine that "power comes from the barrel of a gun." Looks like the left can dish it out, but can't take it.

WOOLSEY TELLER

Indianapolis

Sir / Even though I disagreed with Allende's idea of the perfect society, I respected him for the courage to implement it. I truly mourn the loss of anyone who, like him, played the game squarely and then, when he was the victor, was overthrown by men who have no rules.

MICHAEL MCCLINTOCK

Los Angeles

Sir / The fact that so many Americans are happy about the right-wing military takeover in Chile, while at the same time supportive of our improved relations with the Communist regimes in China and the Soviet Union, tends to prove Americans will support any dictatorship as long as it is friendly to American business interests. We have certainly come a long way from "making the world safe for democracy."

LEONARD JAY

Hermosa Beach, Calif.

Sir / The overthrow of Salvador Allende's Marxist government was not a defeat for democracy, but a victory over Communism.

CARLOS M. FERNANDEZ

Miami

Sir / A Marxist, socialist, prosperous and democratic Chile could have been the key nation in Mr. Nixon's detente strategy. Allende's dream for his country--an open society with a Communist economy, full civil liberties, intellectual freedom and democratic electoral institutions--could have been obvious proof to the Kremlin and Peking that they need not destroy their Solzhenitsyns and Sakharovs.

A country with a mixture of U.S. and Communist influences could have understood issues from both sides and could have been of invaluable diplomatic use. President Nixon should have done everything he could to help Chile's Marxist "experiment" succeed.

Instead, Mr. Nixon gave Allende the economic cold shoulder and watched him die. It makes me wonder what detente really means to the President.

C.J. SCHWARTZ

Los Angeles

The Big Racket

Sir / The Riggs-King tennis match on television [Oct. 1] was a forum for both the best and the worst elements in the Women's Lib movement. Billie Jean, a perfect sport and brilliant tennis player, gave ample proof that women's sports can be tremendously exciting.

Commentator Rosie Casals, though, was biased and abrasive. The telecast convinced me that those who will do the most good for the Women's Lib movement will speak softly and carry a big racket.

CHARLES PRICE

Huntington Beach, Calif.

Sir / The only thing demonstrated by the Riggs-King match was that Rosemary Casals is even more obnoxious than Howard Cosell.

MR. AND MRS. DAVID B. CLEGG

San Rafael, Calif.

Sir / Ms. King turned Bobby Riggs into a male chauvinist rabbit.

VICKI SMITH

Webster Groves, Mo.

Sir / Fair is fair, by God; now Camel cigarettes should excavate the world's ranking 55-year-old women's tennis player and have her play Stan Smith on the roof of the Playboy mansion.

RICHARD BEZIAT

Nashville, Tenn.

Maid Judith's Rhyme

Sir / Dorst noon koude toppe

Mys Wax's wund'rus rhyme

Ful wel, forsooth, she made hir

Poynt in TIME [Sept. 24].

THEO HELLER

Metairie, La.

Sir / Let alle commende the vers of

Maid Judithe Wax

And her reviewe of Waterbury factes.

J.R. POPLAR JR.

Havre de Grace, Md.

"Barrett's Wife" Speaks Up

Sir / I do not mean to be ungrateful for having gained national prominence as [TIME Senior Editor Laurence] "Barrett's wife" in the publisher's letter regarding the Bobby Riggs story [Sept. 10], but those of us who care deeply about women's rights do value identity.

"Barrett's wife"--sometimes also known as Dave's, Paul's and Adam's mother--emerges too as Paulette Barrett. The "local women's rights group" she heads is in Tenafly, N.J.

PAULETTE S. BARRETT

Tenafly, N.J.

Mitford's Quibbles

Sir / I was most gratified by your excellent review of Kind and Usual Punishment [Sept. 24], but may I raise a couple of small quibbles?

Your reviewer reproves me for "sardonic excesses," saying I am "capable of snapping that a man with a dicebox might grant and deny paroles as fairly as most boards." That was snapped not by me but by Hearst's San Francisco Examiner, and so attributed in my book. The dicebox analogy would seem borne out by several recent studies I cited in a chapter on parole.

I am further chided for neglecting to mention any "idealistic" or "effective penologists." I did mention quite a few of these and told what became of them. Examples: Tom Murton, prison warden brought to Arkansas in 1967 by Governor Winthrop Rockefeller--fired by Rockefeller (and blacklisted in his vocation) for disclosing his findings of widespread corruption and brutality to the press. Dr. Frank Rundle, psychiatrist of Soledad prison--summarily dismissed for refusing to turn over the confidential psychiatric file of a prisoner-patient to the warden. Edward F. Roberts, correctional officer at Raiford State Prison in Florida--who testified before a congressional committee that he was forced out of his job because he refused to go along with his supervisor's credo that "a convict is the lowest thing on earth."

JESSICA MITFORD

Oakland. Calif.

On Taking Potluck

Sir / Your American note, "Potluck" [Sept. 17], really annoyed me. The Muscular Dystrophy Association acted as if the "Marijuana Dealers Association's" gift was something less than generous. I suppose the contribution would have been more significant had it come from a local oil company, building contractor or politician--all top-ranking "ethical" members of society. How unfortunate for a society that hails as "ethical" those who weave a "goodie" blanket of All-Americanism around them yet thrive on greed, corruption and deceit.

JUDY MCLEAN

Sandpoint, Idaho

Sir / The "Gainesville Marijuana Dealers Association" gave $10,000 to muscular dystrophy. What did the "American Medical Association" give?

MICHAEL E. TUFARO

South Plainfield, N.J.

Warm Turkey

Sir / I did some detective work on myself and finally narrowed the cause of my vague floating physical symptoms (i.e., headaches, pains in the neck and shoulders, and a perpetually queasy stomach) down to smoking. But, like Edward Brecher [Sept. 24], I could not function without cigarettes, and so what to do?

My compromise is to smoke one cigarette an hour on the hour and take only three drags. I call it my "hourly bottle" and look forward to it keenly.

Some day, I may get around to cold turkey, but for now I'm perfectly willing to admit that I am not superwoman and am thoroughly enjoying the new vigor and sense of good health I feel.

CAROL PINSKY

Los Angeles

Nothing Secret

Sir / You reported that I "worked as a Republican campaign staffer while secretly doing research for The Selling of the President 1968" [Sept. 24].

This is not true. I did not work on the Republican campaign staff, and there was nothing secret about my research. I was under contract to Simon & Schuster to write a book about the role of advertising in the 1968 presidential campaign. That is what I told the Nixon advertising staff when I sought permission to observe their work, and that is what I did.

JOE MCGINNISS

Blairstown, N.J.

Submariners' Inner Resources

Sir / Your article "The Limits of Astronauts" [Sept. 17] appears to dwell on the pathological aspects of man's behavior in submarines. There is no mention of the hymns that resound over the mess deck on Sunday mornings; the creative, earthy humor in the cartoons that appear about the ship and in the skits that are written and performed by the men; the industry of those who complete correspondence courses during a patrol; the generosity of those who volunteer for additional watches so that an ailing shipmate can sleep. The most important omission in your article is the fact that a great majority of submariners turn to inner resources and quietly endure a stressful patrol while maintaining their self-esteem and their high moral principles.

During a year as the medical officer aboard a Polaris submarine I was more impressed by the men's ability to maintain normal relationships and behavior than by their indulgence in the abnormal.

JOSEPH P. ZEPPIERI, M.D.

Mystic, Conn.

The Original Simplistic Christian

Sir / I rejoiced to see that the Jesus movement is not dying [Sept. 24]. Nor is it the fad that many proclaimed it to be when yesterday's flower children turned off drugs and mind trips and made Jesus Christ the central point in their lives.

As for what the movement is doing to Christianity, perhaps the U.S. Catholic Conference should take a look at Jesus' own life-style before labeling anyone "simplistic, emotional, antirational and naive."

Isn't it Christ whom we Christians strive to emulate? Could it be that the Gospel is too simple for much of organized religion to comprehend?

CYNTHIA MCBRIDE

Long Beach, Calif.

Sir / We are the group who compiled the Jesus People's directory that you mentioned, and conducted a survey of the movement. One important fact that you left out is that substantial numbers of people from minority groups have come to be included in the Jesus movement. It is one segment of the church that is truly integrated and includes many Jews and blacks.

MOISHE ROSEN

Jews for Jesus

Corte Madera, Calif.

Sir / The U.S. Catholic Conference staff memo--which assessed the Jesus movement as being "simplistic, emotional, antirational, naive and, because of the leaders' authority over their young followers, 'very manipulative' "--could aptly be used to describe religious education in parochial schools, if one changed antirational to overrational.

CHUCK SMITH

West Hamlin, W. Va.

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