Mr. Stein's Teeth Are on Edge

Sir:

In TIME, May 12, there are reported words said to have been spoken by me to Samuel Putnam, in Paris. I cannot call him to mind, though I may have seen him at times in the cafes there.

"My God, Sam!" it begins. This is impossible; I don't talk like that.

It goes on: "You have no idea how dumb she is! Why, when we were at school, I used to have to do all her homework for her." All quite impossible. "I used to have to do" puts my teeth on edge. Neither "dumb" nor "homework" are in my vocabulary. Gertrude was a brighter pupil than I was, and more often "honorably promoted," that is, without the obligation of final examinations. We did no homework and the word was not in use with us. We studied our lessons in school study hours. If Author Putnam had known better the ways of Oakland public schools in the '80s, he might have invented a yarn less easy to refute.

LEO STEIN Settignano, Italy

P: For Reader Stein's own sidelights on life with famed Sister Gertrude, see BOOKS.--ED.

Yes, She Had No Bandanas

Sir:

You say: "The dusky St. Louis song-&-dance woman (Josephine Baker) had ruled the jungle of the Folies Bergere clad only in several bananas" [TIME, June 16]. This is a wonderful typographical error (bandanas), priceless!

MRS. LULA P. ROSSMASSLER New York City

P: But the word is bananas; Josephine Baker did not hide her jungle charms behind bandanas.--ED.

Voluptuousness v. Holiness

Sir:

In TIME, June 16, there appears an article on Professor Richard T. Gore of the College of Wooster. . . . Professor Gore is of the opinion that much of the present-day church music is sacrilegious.

If you were required to sit in the Wooster Chapel at the minimum of four days a week all through a school year and listen to nothing but Bach and Professor Gore's interpretations of same, you would certainly welcome a little of Gounod's "sexy" music or the "lull" of Tchaikovsky.

JOHN BOONE POSTLE

College of Wooster Wooster, Ohio

Sir:

. . . Athough I heartily agree with Professor Gore that the standard of musical taste in most churches could be improved, his premises on the subject of voluptuousness v. holiness in music bear some questioning. . . .

The attributing of sensual or spiritual qualities to music itself is an arbitrary thing indeed. Since extreme religiosity is a diversion of sensuality, it seems not unsuitable that so-called sensuous music be used as a means of stimulating religious fervor. But music itself has no real erotic influence on human beings other than that created by association.

The attributing of "sexiness" to Gounod, that master of banality in music, shows a lack of discernment somewhere. Cesar Franck, a devout Catholic, wrote music whose sensuality is unsurpassed in the late romantic era. His models were Liszt and Wagner, both of whom did their level best to transfer their sexual emotions to music. But who knows that the Bach fugues that some consider so dry and pedantic at this time were not the height of voluptuousness when they were created? And Mozart, who so often is accused of superficiality, was in a sense the Wagner of his time, only in good taste.

The answer to all this is that music is music; at the time we may associate certain emotions with it; in another period its effect may be entirely different. I am afraid music is a foreign language to Professor Gore also, with his talk of "osculatory orchestration" and similar tripe. He says church music should be written by the "best composers." Who decides who are the best composers? Professor Gore?

DAVID B. HANCOCK New York City

Sir:

May I add a hearty "Amen" to Professor Gore's comments on church music. Too long have many of us who are organists and choirmasters been appalled by the low grade of music in the services of the church. . . .

W. DONALD GEORGE Organist & Choirmaster

St. Michael's Church Charleston, S.C.

K-K-K-Katy

Sir:

"DIED. Herman Darewski, 64, Russian-born British composer whose K-K-K-Katy was stuttered by millions in World War I. . . ." [TIME, June 16].

I have long labored under the impression that the American Geoffrey O'Hara was the composer of said song. At least I and many other enlisted men of World War II saw and heard him sing this song as an entertainer and civilian employee of Special Services during World War II.

Tell me, are there two war songs entitled K-K-K-Katy? . . .

ARMAND E. VORCE Iowa City, Iowa

P: Only one--by Geoffrey O'Hara ( TIME too trustingly followed the London obits).--ED.

Catholic Catechism

Sir:

. . . TIME, JUNE 16 . . . YOU QUOTE CATHOLIC WAR VETERAN'S [EDITORIAL] ENTITLED "TWO-TIMING CATHOLICS" . . . [SUGGESTING] THAT PERSONS NAMED INCLUDING MYSELF WHO DO NOT ANSWER QUESTIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH DESIRE OF CATHOLIC WAR VETERANS "MIGHT BE FLIRTING WITH COMMUNISM." . . .

NO OPPORTUNITY WAS GIVEN TO ME TO ANSWER ANY OF THE QUESTIONS. I RECEIVED NO COMMUNICATION FROM THE CATHOLIC WAR VETERAN. . . . I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS SURRENDERED ITS POWER OF EXCOMMUNICATION TO ANY LAY ORGANIZATION. I FURTHER BELIEVE AS AN AMERICAN CITIZEN THAT THERE IS A DISTINCTION BETWEEN MATTERS OF FAITH AND POLITICAL CONVICTIONS. I DO NOT RECOGNIZE THE RIGHT OF ANYONE TO INTERFERE WITH OR ATTEMPT TO COERCE MY POLITICAL BELIEFS AS AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. I HAPPEN TO BE A ROMAN CATHOLIC BOTH BY CONVICTION AND IN PRACTICE. . . .

ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS WHICH WERE NEVER PUT TO ME . . . ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1) I KNOW LITTLE ABOUT THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT OF POLAND BUT ASSUME THAT ITS POLICIES ARE LARGELY THOSE OF MOSCOW INASMUCH AS ITS DELEGATE IN THE U.N. CUSTOMARILY VOTES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SOVIET UNION DELEGATE. 2) I REGARDED THE TRIAL OF ARCHBISHOP STEPINAC AS RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION AND DID MY BEST TO OBTAIN A PANEL OF AMERICAN LAWYERS TO HELP IN HIS DEFENSE. 3) I REGARD THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT OF GREECE AS UNDEMOCRATIC IN CHARACTER. THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MY BELIEFS AS A CATHOLIC. 4) I, OF COURSE, ACCEPT THE PAPAL ENCYCLICAL ON ATHEISTIC COMMUNISM.

BARTLEY C. CRUM

San Francisco

Sir:

. . . I HAVE NEVER RECEIVED QUESTIONNAIRE YOU MENTION. I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT CATHOLIC WAR VETERANS AND I QUESTION SERIOUSLY WHETHER ECCLESIASTICAL AUTHORITY WOULD EVER SUPPORT CATHOLIC WAR VETERAN . . . IN DEVELOPMENT OF POLITICAL YARDSTICK AS TEST OF TRUE CATHOLICISM. . .

I HAPPEN TO BE ONE OF FEW CATHOLIC PLAYWRIGHTS IN THIS COUNTRY WHO LIVES AND WRITES IN CATHOLIC TRADITION. TAKE TIME OUT NOW FOR GOOD LOOK AT ALL MY PLAYS FROM "FIRST LEGION" IN 1934 DOWN TO "MAGNIFICENT YANKEE" IN 1946. . . . I HAVE NEVER BEEN COMMUNIST AND I HAVE NEVER BEEN FELLOW TRAVELER. I AM CATHOLIC WHO TAKES HIS SOCIAL CONSCIENCE FROM GOSPELS OF APOSTLES. I WANT SIMPLE JUSTICE. . . .

EMMET LA VERY President

Screen Writers' Guild Los Angeles

P: TIME reported the Catholic Veterans' anti-Communist catechism as religious news, considers these rebuttals also newsworthy.--ED.

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