To the Editors:

One-quarter of mankind mourns the death of Chairman Mao [Sept. 20].

Although my family escaped from China after the Communists' takeover, I, like the millions of overseas Chinese who repudiate Mao's political philosophy, am saddened by this great man's passing.

Mao was a poet and statesman as well as a politician and educator. He transformed China from a prostrate and humiliated country into a strong and self-sufficient nation. His revolutionary government altered the balance of power in Asia and the strategic thinking of the world. His teachings transformed the Chinese, long known to be loose as sand as a nation, into a unified, well-disciplined people devoted to building a strong country.

Despite their lack of freedom, the 800 million Chinese revere and adulate him, because he drove out the foreigners and restored to China much of its former power and self-respect.

Bernadette P.N. Lee Shih

Rancho Pahs Verdes, Calif.

Praise the Lord! Mao is dead.

Blessed are the people on the mainland of China.

Phil Ho Philadelphia

This barbarian caused enough blood to be spilled inside and outside China to float the navies of the world from here to eternity--where the real judgment will be made.

Edward Clarke New York City

No amount of praise for the social reforms that Mao Tse-tung brought to the Chinese people will ever hide the fact that he ranks with Hitler and Stalin because of the millions of people he had murdered or who died because of his actions.

John Alden Phoenix

History will bear out that Mao's revolution helped lead the way to a new community of peace and brotherhood. What will we do here in America?

Benjamin Amber Fort Myers, Fla.

Peking Newspeak

While reading Ralph Davidson's Letter from the Publisher [Sept 20] I noticed that he said, "Bernstein speaks Mandarin." The Chinese no longer call the language Mandarin. They call it the Peking dialect. I learned this during a trip to China last April.

During a conversation, I mentioned that I had a son-in-law who spoke Mandarin. Our interpreter-guide told us that the Chinese have dropped that class-conscious word.

Pat Liveright Feltenstein Berkeley Heights, N.J.

Foxy Gift

I was overjoyed at the defection of the Russian pilot and the chance to study the MIG-25 [Sept. 20].

However, the whole affair seemed extremely easy, almost planned Could be the Russians slipped us a bogus plane? Maybe our name--"Foxbat" --applies very well. The Russians are the fox.

Robert E. Harris Jr. Rutland, Mass.

We can say that First Lieut. Victor Ivanovich Belenko gave us a Bicentennial gift--the MIG-25.

Shahid Malik Danville, Va.

Wooing Votes

The man to beat Carter is Carter [Sept. 20]. He is a compulsive talker often forgetting what he has said before and sticking his political foot in his mouth.

Joseph W. Dragonetti Philadelphia

If Jimmy Carter was trying to woo the Polish vote, he wore the wrong shirt. The eagle without a crown on his shirt is the Polish Communist version. The traditional Polish emblem is a white eagle with a crown symbolizing sovereignty and independence--virtues denied under Communism.

John T. Kazmierski Cliffside Park, N.J.

How can a man who does not know any better than to try to "make hay" in a rose garden expect voters to think he possesses the qualifications necessary to be a successful President of the U.S.? Any grass-roots farmer would know better than that.

Nelle C. Archer Tampa, Fla.

God and the Gays

The twists of the Bible by which Father McNeill [Sept. 20] justifies homosexuality are but another victory in the anti-Christ campaign to wipe out every trace of self-discipline and self-control.

Val Vardamis Bangor, Me.

Thank you, Father McNeill! With you at the helm, the sinking ship, the Catholic Church, might keep afloat.

Anthony T. Grasso Jericho, N. Y.

God does not encourage homosexuality. He created human beings who later decided, by their own free will, to become homosexuals. Homosexuality is sin; it cannot be justified by McNeill's mutilation of Scripture.

Carl Briggs Yuma, Ariz.

Homosexual love is a celebration of the love of God. Gay is more than good--it is essential, necessary, holy.

Michael Reardon Berkeley, Calif.

Bishop or Archie Bunker?

As a young Catholic, I applaud Bishop Lefebvre [Sept. 13]. The church should see that the Tridentine Mass in Latin is relevant. The essence of our faith is eternally relevant because it is true. We need the symbolism of the old rites to express to us the depth and mystery of the sacraments.

Barry Curtis Delaware, Ohio

Why should we accept the ruling of the 16th century Council of Trent? Let's go back to the 12th century and consider whether women have souls. Want to sign up, Archie Bunker Lefebvre?

Thomas J. O'Grady San Francisco

Will some apologist for the new Mass explain why it was necessary to ban the Tridentine Mass? For four centuries following the Council of Trent the use of several rites was permitted. What once was unity in diversity has become disunity in perversity.

Maurice V. Moriarty Inglewood, Calif.

Flowering Narcissism

Let's not blame the humanistic psychologies for furthering narcissim [Sept. 20]. It is true more people are spending time and money turning inward. However, the result, after working through "unfinished business," is openness, caring, creativity, spontaneity and joy interacting with others.

Bev Williams Grabon Glencoe, Ill.

What's new about narcissism? It has been around since the serpent told Eve "You will be like gods . . ." Another name for it is original sin--and I suppose it's at least part of what prompts me to write this letter, hoping to see my name and my opinion in TIME.

Mary W. Cox North Miami, Fla.

An apt response to your article on narcissism would be the famous saying of Rabbi Hillel 20 centuries ago: "If I am not for myself, who will be for me if I am for myself alone, what am I?"

Alexander S. Zelenka Dallas

After being furiously involved in many causes, I find the changes must first happen to your "Me." When we decide to become living examples and stop shouting, a mellowing occurs that enables us to see our strengths, weaknesses and the direction to channel our energy. You have to go in to go out.

Peg Tyndell Albany, N. Y.

Apologies, Apologies

Cristina Rodriguez's letter asking if the U.S. will ever apologize for unjustly accusing the Spanish of sinking the Maine [Sept. 131 shows an unusual lack of memory. Were not the Spanish soldiers the first to murder Americans? How many Indians were killed just for their gold? Will Spain ever apologize?

Bernard Bouyer Abondance, France

Dylan's Pleasure Dome

A television special was bad enough, but this new mansion goes too far Has Bob Dylan [Sept. 20], who for years wanted only to inform society of its wrongs, become as money hungry as some of those rock bands?

Kevin R. Miller Des Moines

Prine Time

The man pictured with the big coal shovel [Aug. 23] is not a Kentucky strip miner, as you report.

He is Songwriter John Prine, whose tune Paradise tells of the "tortured timber and scarred land" that resulted from strip mining near his family home in Muhlenberg County, Ky.

Mark D 'Alfonso Santa Barbara, Calif.

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