Man of the Year Sir:

I think you have no other choice than Pope Pius XII for 1954-5 Man of the Year. He rallied from a sickness that would have broken almost anyone else, to wage a supreme battle for the dignity of man, trampled down by the conquering Red ideology. He was not accepted in the councils of nations where policies are made, yet his presence has never been more felt than when his December sickness broke unto the world . .

JOSEPH LEDIT, S.J. Montreal

Sir:

Your grandchildren and mine will remember Communist China's Foreign Minister Chou En-lai as the Man of 1954 . .

ADAM NIESLEY

San Francisco

Sir:

... I nominate Winston Churchill "Man of the Century," as Man of the Year is too small a title for him . . .

CARLOS A. REICHRATH

Montevideo, Uruguay

Sir:

This year belongs to the American economic system. It underwrote the defense of the free world overseas, it survived a recession and came back stronger than ever, and it proved that--with sympathetic understanding from the Federal Government--the U.S. can increase the individual's standard of living, retain his political freedom, and give him the leisure and resources to create a culture like none in history. I give you the man who best understands what the U.S. system is all about, Secretary of the Treasury George Humphrey.

ROBERT G. CAMPBELL

Detroit

SIR:

FOR MY MONEY: MIRACLE-MILER ROGER BANNISTER.

ZAN SWARTZBERG

BETHLEHEM, ORANGE FREE STATE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA

Sir:

Who else but Dr. Albert Schweitzer? . . .

MRS. R. E. TILDEN

Blair, Neb.

Sir:

Indian Premier Jawaharlal Nehru . . . J.L. GEORGE

Bangkok

Sir:

TIME'S definition of Man of the Year is "the man who had the biggest rise to fame during the year, and who, more than anyone else, changed the news for better or worse." The picture of John Foster Dulles should appear on your cover of Jan. 3, 1955, because he has unquestionably fulfilled these qualifications more fully than other 1954 contenders . . .

JULIUS M. WESTHEIMER

Baltimore

Sir:

I nominate Marcos Perez Jimenez, President of Venezuela ... By judicial management of the rich natural resources of the country, he has not only increased home prosperity but also filled the pockets of many people outside Venezuela . . .

JOSEPH BONDA

Caracas, Venezuela

Sir:

I want to nominate Mendes-France . . .

L. L. GOODMAN

Indianapolis

Sir:

. . . Who but "Jumping Joe" McCarthy? . . . Though I hate him ... I must admit he has finally put some guts-in our Senate . . . by forcing it to condemn him. In his negative way, Joe has done the world more good than the Little Lord Fauntleroys who are horrified by him.

JOHN DOMINIC MICHAEL Washington, D.C.

Sir: Senator Arthur Watkins.

M. M. ANDERSEN

Seattle

Sir:

Present politics and politicians will fade away . . . but Dr. Benjamin Spock and his common sense on child care will continue to bring peace of mind to U.S. mothers for years to come ... I would like to nominate Dr. Spock . . .

SANDRA DE LORIMIER San Francisco

P: For TIME'S nomination, see next week's issue.--ED.

Mother & Son

Sir:

Re your Dec. 6 Letters column: I wonder if Bill Kurschinski really understands the New Testament. He claims the Virgin Mary never influenced Christ. Tell him to read carefully the wedding in Cana.

YVETTE SAUVAGEAU

Shawinigan Falls, Que.

Sir:

If Kurschinski would refer to John 2:1-11 (King James), he would find that the Mother of Christ was instrumental in the first miracle--the turning of water into wine at the marriage feast of Cana. Truly, then, if she were responsible for the first miracle, she certainly must have been instrumental in many others since.

CHARLOTTE VAN BERGEN

Scranton, Pa.

P: For the feast of Cana, see cut.--ED.

Forgotten Men

Sir:

As one who has had the opportunity--I do not consider it a great misfortune or a happy occurrence--of spending one term of 16 months at the Federal Correctional Institution at Danbury, Conn., and another of three years at the Federal Penitentiary at Atlanta, permit me to clarify certain points of your Dec. 6 story on ... William Remington . . . The murder of Remington can be ascribed solely to the misadministration of the various correctional institutions and penitentiaries under the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. Beatings, sluggings and murder are the order of the day in Danbury, Lewisburg, Atlanta, Chillicothe, Alcatraz, and wherever the prison system has an establishment. These crimes are hush-hushed . . . J. Parnell Thomas came closer to describing accurately the situation [in LIFE, Oct. 4] than anyone I know. It is a well-known axiom in prison that "nobody gives a damn about us" ... It is high time that ... a special congressional committee is set up to investigate the facts quietly and without fanfare . . .

NAME WITHHELD

Texas

Biography Revised

SIR:

TIME, DEC. 13 SHOWS A PICTURE OF MRS. CULLEN AND ME AND OUR THREE DAUGHTERS TAKEN AT A LUNCHEON GIVEN BY THE HOUSTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND OTHERS HONORING ME ON THE PUBLICATION OF MY BIOGRAPHY. YOUR STATEMENT, "HUMBLE ROY CULLEN HAD BOUGHT A RUMORED 250,000 COPIES TO SPREAD THE WORD," IS A MISSTATEMENT OF FACTS . . . LELAND ANDERSON, PRESIDENT OF THE TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER, STATES THAT THE MEDICAL CENTER WAS PURCHASING THE BOOKS TO BE DISTRIBUTED BY PRENTICE-HALL. I HAVE ONLY PURCHASED 350 COPIES OF THE BOOK FROM SEVEN HOUSTON BOOK STORES TO BE GIVEN TO MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND THAT IS ALL I INTEND TO BUY . . .

H. R. CULLEN

HOUSTON

Welcome Neighbor

Sir:

... I wish the article on Brazil [Dec. 6] had emphasized our close political and economic relationship with Brazil, the fact that it joined forces with us in World Wars I and II, and that it is one of the principal countries in our trade program . . . Your article makes a fine contribution toward a noteworthy picture of one of our best neighbors.

OSCAR FERNANDEZ

Annapolis, Md.

Sir:

Your covers are wonderful, especially Mr. Chaliapin's. But the Coffee Bean Man !Ugh !!

ROSALYN ANNIN Bellevue, Wash.

Sir:

... It is certainly inspiring to see that some Americans are concerned with presenting a true picture of Brazil. The rise of anti-Americanism in the L.A. countries would certainly slow down, and ultimately die out, if . . . your example was followed by the American press as a whole . .

ALOYSIO DE MORAES Hamilton, N.Y.

Children & Dr. Lindner (Contd.)

Sir:

After reading "Rebels or Psychopaths?" in your Dec. 6 issue, it is self-evident that the waywardness of youth in the U.S. is due to children's being brought up by psychopaths masquerading as psychologists, instead of by their parents . . .

V. A. BARTON

Kingston, Jamaica

Sir:

In his diagnosis of the conscienceless violence among today's youth, Dr. Lindner has identified the culprit, correctly I believe, as "the lie of adjustment." The end product of this false doctrine, preached by Christian and Marxist alike, is a herd of sheep, preyed upon by wolves in sheep's clothing, where crime is the only means of gaining status . . . The modern child ... is turned over by his parents to his age-group with the command that he adjust--or else. He listens to the same radio and TV programs that his playmates listen to; on no account may he pursue an interest of his own choosing--or even daydream about it. While he is told less often than children of past generations to keep quiet, he is denied the priceless boon of solitude . . .

The compulsory socialization of the kindergartner, the pack-running of the adolescent, and the group-thinking of their parents, proclaim with one voice that the individual is obsolete . . .

MARGARET LEE SOUTHARD Hingham, Mass.

Sir:

. . . You well know how diffident scientists and other professional men are about entrusting their material to the magazines and the public press. Among us, numerous canards are always being spread about the lack of consideration and care given to such stuff. Your remarkably faithful reporting of my recent Hacker Foundation lectures gives the lie, for all time, to this type of intellectual sour grapes . . .

ROBERT LINDNER Baltimore

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