Dallas Mania

To the Editors:

After a brutal heat wave, Billygate, Iran and other insanities, there is nothing so refreshing as a tad of honest lust, greed, incest and vicious moneygrubbing `a la Dallas [Aug. 11]. J.R. Ewing has restored my faith in escapist TV.

Julie Taylor Webster Groves, Mo.

Like it or not, Dallas provides a panorama of today's America: the good, the bad and the ugly.

Richard C. Migliaccio Oklahoma City

J.R. is no villain, he's a romantic hero. And Larry Hagman is the new Clark Gable, with that same mixture of sex, charm and cruelty, the same devilish grin--and the same sweeping broad-brimmed hat.

Jacquelyn Friedlander Port Chester, N. Y.

Who shot J.R.? Vaughn Leland, the only one with enough motive and guts to try. J.R. will be fine though. And after he gets revenge, it's J.R. for President.

Tom Dwyer San Mateo, Calif.

I hope it was Kristin Shepard who shot J.R. because I placed a bet on her: $675 plus one of my Krugerrands. I feel like J.R. himself, and I love it.

Stephen Schlager Elm Grove, Wis.

Whodunit? Who cares?

Tony Vanaria New York City

That millions of Americans can be mesmerized by such trivia as Dallas only proves that the average American seeks excitement by means of the tube, rather than by making an effort to raise his life out of the rut of bland mediocrity.

Tom Hart Port Monmouth, N.J.

He Made Us Laugh

Peter Sellers is dead [Aug. 4], but his unique creations--Dr. Strangelove, Inspector Clouseau, Chance the gardener --will live on. Generations not yet born will hail Sellers as a comic genius in the tradition of Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd. Sellers made us laugh. What better epitaph can a man have?

Larry Bauer Cleveland

A Shake of the Fist

So the Israeli Knesset needed to shake its fist at the rest of the world in defiance and to fulfill some of its "nationalist needs" [Aug. 11]. Are the Jewish vote and money so important that Mr. Carter has chosen to sit idly by while the Israelis irresponsibly deteriorate the Camp David peace process?

John J. Lawton Jr. Albany

I fail to see why making all of Jerusalem the capital of Israel is a pointless, provocative and defiant act. After all, Jerusalem was possessed by the Jews in biblical times, and it holds the remnants of the Temple, the most sacred object in Judaism.

Besides, with much of the United Nations voting that the Israelis should give away land that is rightfully theirs, it is not surprising that the Knesset would show Israel's citizens that it will not yield to world pressure.

Craig Coopersmith Livingston, N.J.

The Madness of MAD

Your story "The Great Nuclear Debate" [July 21] reports that America's European allies doubt our ability to guarantee their independence. That they feel this way should be no surprise.

Our strategy of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) insists that nuclear weapons have no utility in the operation of policy. Their only use, say the MADmen, is to hold up our end of a suicide pact with the U.S.S.R. This doctrine can't assure survival because survival is not its objective.

By contrast, the Soviets have made their choice. They use their arsenal to ensure ultimate victory and the survival of their system in any confrontation, and the Europeans know this.

Newt Gingrich, Representative

Sixth District, Georgia

Washington, D.C.

Counting vs. Feeding

Did we really need a threeyear, 13-agency, 800-page report from the President's Council on Environmental Quality [Aug. 4] to tell us that the number of malnourished will more than double by the year 2000? When will we pause from our counting and reporting on the hungry long enough to start feeding them?

Robert Lesser North Wales, Pa.

I couldn't agree more with the report on environmental quality, particularly its prediction of wide-scale troubles unless conservation measures are promptly taken seriously. Looking to November, I find it hard to believe that one major political party has denounced the 55-m.p.h. limit, and the other party has been working at a snail's pace on conservation policy. Still, a snail is better than a backward elephant.

Dan Bump Gresham, Ore.

Ex-Yippie Capitalist

We can continue to take ex-Yippie Jerry Rubin with a grain of salt [Aug. 11]. His slogan of the '60s, "Never trust anyone over 30," still holds. Because Mr. Rubin has reached that ripe old age we can almost understand his transformation into a greedy capitalist.

Craig Possee Belchertown, Mass.

Moving a Mountain

Many people in the state of Washington would undoubtedly be happy to palm off Mount St. Helens on someone else [Aug. 11]. However, our mean-tempered volcano has not yet propelled itself across the Columbia River into Oregon.

Earl Clark Port Angeles, Wash.

A Hostage's Thank You

I am writing this letter to your magazine so that it can be read by the largest number of people possible. My fellow Americans and I have for the past eight months been held hostage here in Tehran, and as a result of this our morale becomes quite low at times. One of the reasons for an uplift of that morale is mail sent to us by family and friends. But what continually amazes me is the mail sent to us not only from my country but from people all over the world, whom I've never met, wishing us good luck and a speedy return to our family and friends. It is to these very kind and generous people I direct this letter. From myself and my fellow hostages, please accept our deepest thanks for taking the time to show your concern for us in this most trying situation. I hope that you will all continue to write in the future.

Donald R. Hohman

American Embassy

Tehran

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