To the Editors:

Blessings on you for pointing out that we kitchen lovers are neither drudges nor crazy [Dec. 19].

Etha Argentina

Aptos, Calif.

Your entertaining piece emphasized the exotic and the expensive. There are many of us who enjoy preparing good food at home, yet do not need and cannot afford $4 for one melon, $75 for a single class, or $65,000 kitchens.

Sandra B. Aylsworth

Los Gatos, Calif.

With Cuisinart and Escoffier,

They elegantly sup.

The question you forgot to ask:

Who does the cleaning up?

Roslyn Katz

Van Nuys, Calif.

For those who find slicing and dicing both sensual and exciting, my kitchen is available. For myself, I'll go relax in the bath while the baby is crying and the dog is barking and get ready for a romantic candlelight dinner-out.

Susan Archibald

Seattle

Since cooking was the theme of your cover, may I quote Brillat-Savarin: "The discovery of a new dish does more for the human race than the discovery of a new star."

Gene Wildman

New York City

I am pleased you chose our cookbook, A Mostly French Food Processor Cookbook, for special mention. But alas my heart sank faster than a souffle when I discovered you left out an important ingredient-me, the coauthor.

Jill Harris Herman

Dallas

Coronary Curb

Your report of our study of Harvard alumni well emphasizes the importance of strenuous exercise to lower risk of heart attack [Dec. 12]. But, alas, you err grievously in adding that smoking, overweight, high blood pressure and family history of heart trouble "did not seem to matter much." Exercise does not abolish the hazards of these adverse characteristics, but reduces heart-attack risk whether they are present or not. Active men who don't smoke cigarettes have one-third the risk of inactive men who smoke. Active normotensive men have one-fourth the risk.

I wish you had mentioned my coauthors, Alvin L. Wing and Robert T. Hyde, whose contributions were indispensable.

Ralph S. Paffenbarger Jr., M.D.

Stanford, Calif.

Ralph Paffenbarger gives strong evidence that burning up the calories will lower the chance of heart trouble, but does Ralph follow his own advice? Emphatically, yes! He recently finished a 100-mile trail race in northern California, and was one of three finishers out of twelve starters in the time of 26 hours.

Aaron Goldman

Las Vegas

Colossal Extravaganza

Emperor Bokassa's $20 million coronation [Dec. 19] was an insult to the black man's pride. This extravaganza staged in the poor country of Central Africa is not to be criticized for its lavishness. It lifts the hearts and eyes of millions of depressed people. It gives them something to dream about and stories for their great-grandchildren.

But all this grandeur was purchased from Western civilization and white man's technology. This colossal event should have been a crowning example of African culture, African craftsmanship and African ingenuity. Something the black man could point to with pride, an example of his uniqueness in this world.

Glenn Smital

Stockton, Ill.

Somebody tell Bokassa he blew the Napoleonic bit when he imported Chateau Lafite and Chateau Mouton. The favorite wine of his hero was Chambertin, a Burgundy.

Tom Kaplin San

Clemente, Calif.

Decimus Sextus Nonus

Mr. Michael Herbert Dengler would have had less trouble in his battle to change his name to a numeral and become Mr. 1069 [Dec. 12], if he had simply switched from English to Latin and become Mr. Decimus Sextus Nonus.

The judge who is wondering whether a number can qualify as a name should note the precedents in such names as Primus (first born), Octavius (eighth born), etc.

Thomas L. Barnard

South Hadley, Mass.

Funding Abortion

The Right-to-Lifers did not come out ahead [Dec. 19]. On the contrary, it is a victory for pregnant women who desire abortions, that about one-third may still be financed by federal-state Medicaid funds. Added to this will be the continued payments with state funds by 15 or so enlightened states.

Herbert M. Stein

West Orange, N.J.

"Poor women denied their rights!" Senator Brooke must follow a Constitution different from mine. Nowhere does that document give anyone the "right" to free sex without accepting the responsibilities that go with it. Abortion in most cases is a luxury, not a right.

If Senator Brooke et al. want to "promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty," let them come up with some better-paying jobs.

Dynette Ivie

Warren, N.J.

The Right-to-Life group may have become single-issue voters. So have I. I will never vote for anyone who has worked or voted to deprive poor women of their right to medically safe abortions.

Mary H. Hennessy

Stratford, Conn.

Drug Traffickers

The "school's out" exuberance generated by the photographs and text in regard to the release/exchange of the Americans from Mexican prisons [Dec. 19] hides the fact that many of these individuals were trafficking drugs. Their activities could thus result in degradation of human life far beyond anything they experienced.

Ronald C. Pels

St. Louis

Benefit Requirements

Reader Torey Stanley of Oneida, Tenn., calls Social Security "truly a farce" [Nov. 28] and reports that he was denied benefits after an accident at age 22 because he "had not worked the past five out of twelve years." A wage earner disabled at 22 who meets all other requirements needs as few as six calendar quarter-years of work out of the past twelve to be insured, not five years.

Lance P. Keigwin, Claims Representative

Social Security Administration

New York City

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