The Good Life in Washington

To the Editors:

Bravo for your feature on Washington and Dixy [Dec. 12]. You have captured the essence of our life-style and the beauty of our state. Yes we have problems, but God has granted us so much good that these problems seem surmountable.

(Mrs.) Nancy Davidson Grandview, Wash.

In the light of the Governor's destructive environmental plans for the beautiful state of Washington, wouldn't it have been more appropriate to picture her not as a goldfinch perched near an unspoiled shore but rather as a vulture poised menacingly in a dark wood, or as an oil-coated mallard struggling in a polluted ocean?

Patricia L. Dudley New York City

To depict Dixy Lee Ray as a charming, inoffensive goldfinch is singularly inappropriate. A better choice would have been a grizzly bear--and with a sore paw.

Georgia Anderson Edmonds, Wash.

I had hoped someone would put the goldfinch back in the cage.

Gordon W. Rosier Edmonds, Wash.

It's fairly easy for a mind trying to grasp the mysteries and complexities of nature to become canonical, fanatical or just nutty. So let's have sympathy for Governor Ray trying to compromise between the God of nature, the almighty dollar and a technocratic society.

Stanley B. Stefan Warren, Mich.

Did You See the UFO?

For the skeptics on the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal [Dec. 12] who challenge the existence of UFOs, I must ask; Were they there? Did they see what I saw? Eight UFOs in three different sightings and one to five competent witnesses each time. I was a skeptic once too.

Wilson M. Baltz Bloomington, Ill.

Your article on the new nonsense was inevitable. When scientists realize that there are people who do not necessarily see things the way they do, they strike back by calling them irrational. When will they finally admit that they do not have a monopoly on the truth?

Daniel C. Russ Atlanta

Three cheers for the attackers of the new nonsense and your article about them. As the quality of education in America erodes, the success of the many new brands of charlatanism seems to grow proportionately.

Mark Turner Houston

There is as great a danger in extreme skepticism as there is in irrational belief. Since this field of paranormal or psychic phenomena is gaining rapidly in world attention, it is crucial for scientists, the Government, the media to be responsible in their approach to finding the middle way to truth.

(Mrs.) Ellen Cox San Antonio

Jimmy's Preference

Hugh Sidey joins the ranks of the ridiculous with his column on the President's preference for "Jimmy" [Dec. 12]. Personally, I prefer an honest Jimmy to a boring Hugh. And, who knows, if President Hoover had been the type to prefer Herbie, he might have been a man to face up to the issues of his time.

Annette Allara Berwyn, Ill.

Hold everything, Hughie. I just plain glory in knowing that we have a President of our great country who is called Jimmy, and wants to be called Jimmy, and insists on being called Jimmy.

Fred R. Methered Honolulu

Middle East Priorities

In your article "Goodbye, Arab Solidarity" [Dec. 12], you ask whether Sadat moved too quickly and too far? Is 30 years all that quick? Is recognizing a political fact of life, the existence of Israel as a sovereign state for a generation, really going too far?

I just hope the Carter Administration will aid Egypt, Israel and any involved state truly seeking peace. Arab unity may be lost in this quest. But since when has Arab unity been a goal of the U.S. in that area? Let us keep our priorities straight.

Michael A. Bennett San Diego

In the past four wars with Israel, Egypt lost many thousands of its young. Egypt, which not too long ago was a rich Arab country, is today one of the poorest. Yet when President Sadat decided to bring Egypt back to her feet and stop the bloodshed that has persisted for 30 years, loud barks were heard in Tripoli.

The radical Arabs demand the continuation of the state of war with Israel. They are willing to sacrifice more Arab soldiers as long as they are Egyptian soldiers. The radicals are willing to spend billions of dollars for war. Well, Egyptians are fed up with the "generosity" of their Arab "brothers."

Mort Lapede Jackson Heights, N.Y.

"Have You Tried Wheaties"

Reading the story on Olympic Medalist Bruce Jenner's saying that he indeed eats the Wheaties that he promotes [Dec. 5] made me wonder how many among your readers remember the grandest faux pas of commercial advertising? Lou Gehrig, a champion and a hero in his day, was hired to do a commercial for Huskies, a new cereal on the market, and when asked what his favorite cereal was, what do you think he replied? "Why, Wheaties, of course, I eat them every morning." After what seemed an eternity of dead silence, the pitchman said: "You mean Huskies, don't you, Lou?" "Oh, yes! Of course, I mean Huskies."

George E. Probst South Plainfield, N.J.

Pass the Quarterback

Your discussion of the success of undersized football carriers [Dec. 5] reminded me of the stories of my father, William Gustav Exton (1876-1943) about his playing on the Columbia varsity in the 1890s.

It was all scrimmage in those days; and with only the most primitive protective gear. The forward pass--as we know it--had not yet been allowed; the ball had to be carried by a player.

The innovative solution was to hurl the quarterback over the line of scrimmage--with the ball. This tended to put a premium on the more readily projectible quarterbacks. My father, about 5 ft. 6 in. and probably weighing not much over 100 Ibs., was the human missile.

William Exton Jr. Dover Plains, N.Y.

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