More than a Hot Dog

Sir / It was a delight to read the refreshing article on Reggie Jackson [June 3]. I am glad some light was cast on the humane side of an individual who is too often looked on as an overpaid hot dog. Reggie Jackson is a fine athlete who gives a booster shot to a game that seems to be losing its momentum.

R.M. QUIGEL

Baltimore

Sir / It is nice to see an athlete who still earns his salary. More than that, Reggie Jackson still cares deeply for just people.

STELLA TISCARENO

Pittsburg, Calif.

Sir / You've shown us the "Muscle and Soul of the A's." You overlooked the Brains and Strength, Sal Bando; the Legs and Daring, Campy Campaneris; the Versatility and Luck, Gene Tenace; the Sex Appeal and Perseverance, Rollie Fingers.

(MRS.) JOANNE B. SILVA

Salinas, Calif.

Henry Hercules

Sir / Our superswift Secretary of State has done it again [June 10]. The only possible accomplishment left for Henry Hercules is for him to become an astronaut, and then maybe he could be the first space-shuttle diplomat.

PHILIP KAPLAN

Hollywood, Fla.

Sir / In years to come it will be said of Henry Kissinger that the impossible just took a little longer.

ELI COHEN

Paramus, N.J.

Sir / Nixon will not be remembered in history for the rapprochement with Russia and China or peace in the Middle East--this honor will and should go to Kissinger. Everyone remembers Talleyrand and Metternich, but nobody today recalls whom they worked for.

J.M. VAN STAVEREN

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Sir / Has Henry Kissinger considered what a nightmare he has created? Soon Russian ships will have easier access through the reopened Suez Canal to threaten Egypt and oil-producing Persian Gulf nations and extend Soviet influence on India. Could it be the Russians permitted Kissinger to negotiate the Middle East settlement because it will be to their strategic advantage?

CARL SELBY

Chicago

Senator of the U.S.

Sir / Arkansas' Dale Bumpers [June 10] and the voters of his state have shortsightedly deprived the rest of the nation. Bill Fulbright was a Senator of the U.S.

TOM SHUMAN

Roselle, Ill.

Filling Up Space

Sir / Dr. G.K. O'Neill's talents are misapplied when he spends his time designing space homes for our overpopulated planet [June 3]. He would do better to figure out how to feed 3.86 billion people or prevent this number from becoming larger. Each home would accommodate 200,000 people; at current birth rates we can fill one space home each day without decreasing the number of people on earth.

W. MARSHALL DARLEY

Athens, Ga.

Toothless Prince Charming

Sir / Philadelphia, the "faded dowager of the East Coast" [June 3], has become Cinderella at the ball.

And to think her Prince Charming was a toothless hockey player!

BARBARA LANG SIGMAN

Philadelphia

Sir / Thanks for a revealing article about Philadelphia and the Flyers. Philadelphia is now dispelling its loser image, with its professional hockey, soccer, lacrosse, baseball and tennis teams all in first place in their respective divisions.

However, Philadelphia, like most other cities, is a loser in the areas that matter most: crime rates, spiraling prices, poverty, poor schools, inadequate zoning, public services and public transportation.

ALAN H. SILVERMAN

Elkins Park, Pa.

Sir / Your article on "The New Philadelphia Story" was as beautiful as the Stanley Cup, but how could you forget to mention Kate Smith?

MS. LUCILLE J. GRADEL

Philadelphia

A.I. for Alexander Isaevich

Sir / I read with great satisfaction "Solzhenitsyn v. the KGB" [May 27]. Not only did the article underline the great writer's continued persecution by the Soviet secret police, but it also disproved an allegation made by the Soviet journalist Victor Louis. Louis accused Solzhenitsyn of "immodesty" because he allegedly signs his letters with his last name only, omitting the usual initials or first name.

Your reproduction of Solzhenitsyn's signature clearly shows the initials A.I., for Alexander Isaevich.

MISHA ALLEN

Toronto

Why Rash?

Sir / In your article "An Evangelical Ascends" [May 27], you had this to say about the present Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Ramsey: "In one rash moment, he informed the government that it would be morally right to send troops to protect the rights of black Rhodesians against the white regime." What is rash about asking for the protection of the majority from the totalitarian and illegal excesses of an entrenched, tyrannical minority, be it white, black or what have you?

JOHN J. AKAR

Kingston, Jamaica

Hassayampa Waters

Sir / Author Jones in his book Blood Sport [May 27] appropriated the name and legend of an actual river that rises in the mountains of central Arizona. The legend is that he who drinks the water of the Hassayampa can never tell the truth. The trick is to find the water. Only after a heavy rain is the Hassayampa anything but a wide swath of dry sand for most of its length. A local joke here is a sign at either end of the bridge that states sternly: NO FISHING FROM BRIDGE.

BARBARA BINNEY

Wickenburg, Ariz.

Bisexual Intensity

Sir / Your story on bisexuality [May 13] deserves a citation of merit. However, I would like to point out that I should have been quoted as saying that if a bisexual person has the intense emotions of a genuine love affair for a partner of one sex, his or her feelings for a partner of the other sex are usually the more quiescent ones of fondness and affection. At present, it is rare to find people who have experienced equally intense feelings of attraction and erotic love toward partners of both sexes, whether sequentially or concurrently, and whether in twosome, threesome or group-sex arrangements.

JOHN MONEY

Professor of Medical Psychology

The Johns Hopkins University

School of Medicine Baltimore

A Job Nobody Wants

Sir / Everyone deplores the conditions in nursing homes [June 3]. Why do people need them? Because nobody wants to take care of sick and senile people. There is little reward or feeling of achievement in it. The only fair way to get good care for the sick and elderly is to offer a monetary incentive for a job that nobody wants to do.

SUZANNE L. HOELL

Sacramento, Calif.

Sir / I worked with the aged at $1.65 per hour for almost a month, and I was appalled by the treatment they received. The hospital, however, said it did the best it could; the relatives told you they just could not keep up with the old guy's needs, either physical or emotional; and the low-paid help had developed a nauseating sense of apathy and patronization.

Rather than fall into the last category, I quit.

J.C. SMITH

Santa Clara, Calif.

India's Atoms

Sir / It is very depressing to read [June 3] that while 50% of its 600 million people are suffering chronic food deficiencies, India is testing atomic bombs with the excuse that atomic power will be used to improve the life of future generations.

BAHMAN AZIZIAN

Milan

Sir / We are dismayed but not astonished at the juvenile American reaction to our nuclear explosion in the pursuit of peaceful uses of the atom.

When an otherwise poor nation uses its wealth of scientific knowledge in efforts to promote industrial growth, one would expect wholehearted appreciation from the rest of the world and not childish jealousy and moronic petulance.

COLONEL C.L. PROUDFOOT (RET.)

Bombay

Rip Van Winkle in 2049

Sir / Otto Eckstein's quotation [May 27], "It is impossible for the U.S. . . . to live with double-digit inflation," brought to mind the story about a modern-day version of Rip Van Winkle who awoke in the year 2049 after a 75-year sleep. When he awoke, the first thing he wanted to find out was the value of his investment portfolio, which in 1974 had been $25,000. He asked a passerby to place a call to his old brokerage office. After some delay, his records were retrieved and he was informed that the market value of his portfolio had increased to more than $31 million. His elation was interrupted, however, by a telephone recording that said, "Deposit $125 for the next three minutes."

The frightening thing about this story is that if we experience 75 years of 10% inflation, $31 million would have the equivalent spending power of $25,000 today. Today's 10-c- telephone call would cost more than $125, and TIME'S current newsstand price of 50-c- would rise to $635.95.

ROBERT L. HAGIN

La Jolla, Calif.

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