To the Editors:

Whew! When I first saw your "Super Shark" cover [June 23], I was sure that the IRS had reneged on rebates and wanted them back, with interest.

Roger Markley Ontario, Calif.

I enjoyed reading about Jaws, but although sharks are unpredictable I am convinced that they are not as dangerous as they are cracked up to be. In the 25 years that I have worked in the oceans round the world I have seen many sharks, but I have never seen one attack a person. There are rare cases in which sharks can become almost pets by being hand-fed.

Edwin A. Link Binghamton, N. Y.

Inventor of the trainer for blind flying, Link has also designed equipment for underwater exploration.

When it comes to efficiency at killing, man makes the shark look like an enraged toy poodle.

Alfred L. Weiss University Heights, Ohio

Why is the public so fascinated by earthquakes, fires, sinking ships and, now, menacing sharks? One of the main reasons that the shake and bake and devour movies are such a hit on the screen is that we all face so many major problems off the screen. By watching others suffer we drain off some of our own fears. The concern over food shortages, energy conservation, inflation and the possibility of being jobless all seem less threatening when compared with an earthquake that wipes out thousands or a shark that tears bodies to shreds.

The closer the imaginary terror comes to what might really happen, the more gripping the feeling in our gut. The shark fantasy hits where we are the most tender--our fear of dismemberment, the invasion of our bodies. It is bad enough when we must undergo a surgeon's knife; it is unbearable when it is a mindless frenzy that attacks our body integrity.

We turn to films for the catharsis that relieves our fears and anxieties. By identifying with those who escape and overcome their problems we gain courage to battle our own private disasters. We are so emotionally blunted that with each blockbuster picture we have to go further for dramatic effect.

Joyce Brothers New York City

Dr. Brothers' new book will be Better Than Ever.

I was editor of Peter Benchley's novel Jaws and regret Actor Robert Shaw's suggestion that it was a novel "written by committee." That's just not true. My colleagues and I made routine criticisms of the manuscript as it progressed, but all the solutions were Benchley's own, and every word in the book is his. Benchley was nobody's patsy, and any suggestion to the contrary cheats him of his accomplishment.

Thomas Congdon New York City

I cut out the TIME cover of the great white shark and taped him, facing in, on the glass of my aquarium.

I watched proudly as my gallant guppies cruised past the menacing "jaws" unintimidated.

I think I'll go in the water after all.

Robert E. Leonard State College, Pa.

Paging the Don

So the CIA was (or is) in cahoots with the Mafia [June 23]? Why not eliminate the CIA and legalize the Mafia? They have a better batting average and an acceptable image in our present violence-filled society. Godfather, we need help!

Nancy Jordan Satellite Beach, Fla.

The ranting of TIME and other pseudo-Americans over the CIA disclosures would be comical were it not so childish and tragic. What the U.S. needs is a stronger CIA, and let the chips fall where they may.

John H. Shinske Chicago

No crime allegedly committed by the CIA could in any way match the supreme crime of feeding its employers with the incredible mass of misinformation which has made a botch of U.S. foreign policy from the Bay of Pigs onward.

John Hearn Guelph, Ont.

Policy of Poison

In your survey of the history of assassinations for purposes of foreign policy [June 23], you omit the most extensive and best-documented case, that of the Republic of Venice. To quote from my book, Politics Among Nations:

"According to its official records, the Republic of Venice, from 1415 to 1525, planned or attempted about two hundred assassinations for purposes of its foreign policy. Among the prospective victims were two emperors, two kings of France and three sultans. The documents record virtually no offer of assassination to have been rejected by the Venetian government. From 1456 to 1472, it accepted twenty offers to kill the Sultan Mahomet II, the main antagonist of Venice during that period. In 1514, John of Ragusa offered to poison anybody selected by the government of Venice for an annual salary of fifteen hundred ducats . . . In the same period the cardinals brought their own butlers and wine to a papal coronation dinner for fear they might otherwise be poisoned; this custom is reported to have been general in Rome, without the host's taking offense at it."

Hans J. Morgenthau New York City

The article about assassination as an instrument of diplomacy does not mention Utopia by Thomas More (1516). The people of that perfect community are described as pacifists who detest war but recognize that sometimes it is unavoidable and therefore try to achieve its aims with the least loss of human life. So "as soon as war is declared, they promise great rewards to anyone who will kill the enemy's king, and smaller (but still very great) rewards for killing those whom they regard as most responsible after the king for plotting aggression against them . . . Though this manner of waging war . . . may seem like cruel villainy . . . it is considered by the Utopians as a wise and praiseworthy policy, since it enables them to wage great wars without any battle at all. They even think themselves humane and merciful, because by the death of a few bad men they spare the lives of so many innocent men who would otherwise die in battle . . ."

In 1886 Thomas More was officially declared to be a saint.

Julian M. Drachman New York City

Arab Message

The story "Pushing the Arab Cause in America" [June 23] was a generally fair description of a small but growing effort in the U.S. to introduce the American people to broader understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Domestic politics have inhibited free discussion of the issue ever since 1948, but the seeds of a national debate about Middle East policy are in evidence. It is never too late to do the right thing.

John P. Richardson, President American Near East Refugee Aid Washington, D.C.

Israel has no need to wage vast propaganda campaigns, paid for by oil-company millions, to present its side of the Arab-Israeli controversy; it need only report the truth.

(Mrs.) Ray Wolins San Francisco

Planting the Fields

Well, I've been a farmer for 15 years and I've been thinking and pretty quietly planting my fields during that time. Now I'm ready to talk, if people want to listen. There's a lot of things in this country I'd do different. And I feel sure that explaining them will make other people think similarly.

The 1967 Swedish car I drive gets 30 miles per gallon of gasoline, holds four people comfortably, and it's got 93,000 miles and a hand-rebuilt brakelight switch on it. Now why doesn't Detroit make something like that? Well, I generally hear that that'd cause unemployment and the economy might collapse. But I've figured the answer, I think. Those potentially unemployed factory workers could be asked if they'd like to be putting screws into a solar-heat energy-cell hole eight hours a day rather than a shiny new car that needs trading in every so often. If they say no, then we could ask if they'd rather build tractors, dams or fertilizer plants.

Now I know this'll take time and we'll have to retool many factories and many minds that are into the old ways of doing things. Many of the old ways are wonderful, as we on the farm would be the first to say. Yet the 20th century's different. Not only is this the first time that almost every neighbor is scared to death of his or her neighbor, but also we got the pill and the bomb. In other words, we can either manage our environment for the better or for what my neighbors and me think the worse.

Moreover, me and my neighbors feel that if we'd spent just 5% of what that Viet Nam conflict cost on agricultural research, we could feed the world by now and have some leftovers come winter. By the way, I've got a lot of other free suggestions if anybody wants to listen and use some common sense.

Milo Mason Robinson, Ill.

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