Letters

HEROES AND ICONS OF THE 20TH CENTURY

"Who put this selection together? If Muhammad Ali is on the same list as Mother Teresa, you need a new category!" ELAINE HANAK-HALL Aurora, Colo.

It must have been a difficult task to choose the heroes and icons of the 20th century [TIME 100, June 14], but I am very impressed with your selections for this special issue. I sat down to take a quick look at the magazine and did not get back to work for several hours. This issue will never be discarded. JEAN SIMMONS Oshawa, Ont.

I agree with your view that the heroes and icons of the century teach us how to live through their triumphs and follies. Those who are called heroes should be the people who teach us and move us even more when they lose than when they win. KOICHIRO YOSHINO Saitama, Japan

TIME's list of the 100 most influential people contains both the obvious and more than a few wise and courageous surprises. But I would substitute George C. Marshall for Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover for Margaret Thatcher and Woodrow Wilson for Ronald Reagan. Even better than your list of notables would be the recognition that much of what deeply influences society comes from the accumulated contributions of countless unknowns. ELROD P. HAYES Greencastle, Ind.

If the American G.I. is honored, then the people who hold the century's most influential position should be as well. I refer to the humble teacher. This century has seen exponential growth in knowledge, science and education. The greatest crusade has been against ignorance and illiteracy. There is no Nobel Prize for Education, yet were it not for teachers and the growth of universal education, this world would be much less advanced. R. LINKIEWICZ Dolans Bay, Australia

I was under the impression a century covered 100 years. Yet TIME seems to think the past 10 are the most important. I should have known the issue would be a silly, pointless exercise when a world-famous artist, Robert Rauschenberg, taped together some file photos and called it a cover! I hope he had the good grace to donate his fee to charity. CHARLES GLASBERG New York City

Thank you for leaving a prominent blank space on the cover of your "Heroes" issue, right between Marilyn Monroe, Princess Diana and Mother Teresa. It gave me a perfect place to glue a picture of another heroic woman, my mother, Constance Marie Ouellette. She provided me with a firsthand example of living a life of meaning and humble service. Hey, Mom, you made the cover of TIME magazine! BERNARD OUELLETTE Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Most of your choices are Americans or have lived in the U.S. It is a bit arrogant to choose so many people of your own country. MARTIN LIEB Ulm, Germany

Thank you for this memoir of the 20th century. As I approach my seventh decade, I can recollect much of it, but I needed your review of influential people to refresh my memories. I shall keep this copy for my grandchildren. JUDY EISENMAN Quincy, Calif.

Your article on Mother Teresa simply restates the myth about history's most overrated person. The writer of the profile, Bharati Mukherjee, a U.S. citizen, is wrong in stating that Calcutta is "vociferously in love" with Teresa. The rich here adore her, the middle classes are indifferent to her, and the vast majority of the poor are oblivious of her! People like me, who trade with and travel in the West, are aware that she has reduced my city to a metaphor for the lowest degradation and squalor and set back its economic growth at least a couple of centuries. Mother Teresa is largely a creation of the Western media. SOUMEN SINHA Calcutta

You have overlooked one of the truly influential people of the 20th century: Alberta-born Marshall McLuhan, who enunciated the idea of the global village. He has been virtually ignored in your blind, America-first approach! When will you wake up to the fact that Canada has produced quite a few thinkers and innovators? J. BEVERLY EWEN Ajax, Ont.

Your article "When Love was the Adventure" by Liz Smith was inspirational. C'est la verite: as Hemingway said, the most memorable love affairs are the ones that end in tragedy. Look at Antony and Cleopatra, or Romeo and Juliet. Both tales touched our souls because of the separation of the lovers. Amid all the stories about politicians, builders, entertainers and athletes, this one stood out like an emerald. It showed celebrities as being vulnerable and human--like anyone else when it comes to matters of the heart--and as having the basic human need to love and be loved in return. FAIZA ZIA KHAN Islamabad

KISSINGER ON FOOTBALL

I am accustomed to the U.S.-centric view of the world and can (just about) tolerate it [TIME 100, June 14]. But I must respond to the ludicrous article written by Henry Kissinger on Pele. Clearly Kissinger has no understanding of football (as it is called around the world, not soccer), and his attempts to explain "the nature of the game" to you poor U.S. citizens, who only understand "cerebral" team sports(!), serve no purpose. Perhaps the famous diplomat should stick to complicated peace negotiations. TERENCE BRADLEY Veszprem, Hungary

WAR AND PEACE IN KOSOVO

Where are all the armchair generals and experts who said we had to use ground troops to win [KOSOVO CRISIS, June 14]? Now we know why we should let our generals handle war without the help of so-called experts and politicians. PAUL D. GEIGER Cumming, Ga.

One major benefit of the U.S. and NATO response in Kosovo has been overlooked: Henceforth tyrants will have to think twice before undertaking any aggressive acts. A precedent now shows that such acts are not acceptable to the international community and will be met with punishing force if necessary. CHARLES J. BODENSTAB Friday Harbor, Wash.

You neglected the European role in solving the Kosovo crisis. While the U.S. and NATO put pressure on Yugoslavia with military involvement, Europe--especially the German government--played a crucial part in making a deal. That the agreement included the Russians and was not vetoed by the Chinese was owing to the efforts of Germany. HEIKO WITTE Berlin

Slobodan Milosevic is the autocratic replica of the daring pugilist Muhammad Ali: just when you think he is retreating, he charges back with nerve-shattering fervor. Though I regret comparing Milosevic with the boxing legend, it is a way of saying the Serbian leader can never be trusted. KUTI SOFUMADE Lagos, Nigeria

CORRECTION

The quote from America Online CEO Steve Case about the FCC's decision on open access to the Internet [BUSINESS, June 7] was stated incorrectly. It should have read, "It's a choice between right and wrong," not a "battle between good and evil."

CONSIDERING THE TASK OF TEARS

In TIME's article on my book The Holocaust in American Life [HISTORY, June 14], I am said to argue that the Holocaust is "unworthy of American tears." To the contrary, I repeatedly state in the book that tears--along with horror and awe--are perfectly appropriate ("worthy") responses to the Holocaust. My quarrel is with the notion that all these tears accomplish much. This, and not their worthiness, is the reason I ask in the book "why the eliciting of these responses from Americans is seen as so urgently important a task." PETER NOVICK Chicago

FORWARD OR BACK?

It is not enough to put an end to social promotion and make students repeat grades [EDUCATION, June 14]. We must also overcome the boundaries so carefully guarded by territorial educators and the makers of achievement tests. My 20-plus years of working with poorly skilled teens tell me that when reading comprehension and memory skills are low, there is no learning of any academic subject matter. JEANNE M. AGUIRRE Belleville, Ill.

What is the benefit of repeating a grade to a slow learner or a child with a learning disability? You can't successfully use standardized tests for individuals with different learning styles and disabilities. I'd like to see government types in the classroom for a year. I bet they would then have a different perspective. KAREN J. HARRELL Beaufort, S.C.

Ending social promotion is part of an attempt to restore some value to the shredded America high school diploma, which cannot now assure anyone that the bearer can even read or write. DAN HAGEN Charleston, Ill.