Sellers' Selves

To the Editors:

Year after year, Peter Sellers [March 3], "real" or otherwise, has made a rare contribution to the world by expressing another self, each of whom has entertained and enchanted all.

Maxine Lundberg Newport Beach, Calif.

In my opinion, Peter Sellers is six or seven of the greatest men of our time.

Amanda MacBride Anna Maria, Fla.

If and when humor can be found in the Tehran situation, I suggest a film starring Sellers as the Shah, Khomeini and Banisadr--the last without makeup.

William G. Fitzpatrick Bonn

I would like to thank you very much for taking the trouble to probe accurately the deeper recesses of whatever the hell I am, and also for the warmth and kindness of your treatment of me.

Peter Sellers Paris

Olympics Triumph

What age and experience have failed to feed this nation in the past 20 years has finally been served on a platter by its youth at the Winter Olympics [March 3]. How hungry we'd become! And so for two weeks in February 1980 we ate it all up. God, it feels good to be full!

Patricia P. Adam Lebanon, N.J.

Hurrah for the hockey team! Who said the Olympics aren't political? At the medal presentation every American pore oozed with nationalistic pride.

Siegfried Korondi Brimfield, Ill.

It is a pity that this country has to turn a victory over the Soviets in the hockey rink into a big national celebration. It only shows how little the U.S. can do to the U.S.S.R. elsewhere.

Peter Kuo , Chicago

If only life--and world politics--were an ice hockey game.

Nanci Stall Columbus

The Virtues of Frugality

In your Essay on frugality [March 3] and the "waste not" philosophy, you neglected to point out that all those wonderful virtues, such as making leftover chicken hash, turning collars and sewing stockings, were performed by tireless live-in grandmas and stay-at-home, father-knows-best housewives. Women now work, and hours can't be recycled. Besides, you can't darn the heels of a pair of pantyhose.

Meryl Rosen Friedman St. Davids, Pa.

Some of us have never stopped practicing frugality, but I wish I knew what to do with three boxes of buttons, two pincushions and two boxes full of pins.

Diana Northway St. Petersburg, Fla.

A lesson learned from nature--our greatest example in frugality--is that there is no such thing as trash, only things for which we do not yet know a use.

Stephen Lambert Johnson City, Tenn.

Quizzing a Job Applicant

Your article "Handicaps in the Hiring" [March 3] demonstrated many of the problems that are encountered during the interviewing process. However, the author was wrong in assuming that "about the only totally safe question to ask a potential employee is 'Would you like a cup of coffee?' " You see, in the Mormon-dominated state of Utah, where drinking coffee is a sin, the positive response by an interviewee to such a question would most probably preclude employment.

Bonnie Scheirman Salt Lake City

Neglect of Servicemen

Agent Orange [Feb. 25] is just one more hellish example of our country's cold-blooded neglect of the safety and well-being of our servicemen. Certainly there have been others: some nuclear, some disease-oriented. Small wonder our recruiting programs have failed.

Diane Crane Dumont, N.J.

In your article about Agent Orange, the statement "the Government has refused any responsibility for the servicemen's plight" is dead wrong. As VA administrator I have seen to it that resolving the questions about Agent Orange has been an absolute top priority for nearly two years. Every veteran should be told that if he needs medical care--regardless of the cause--he is eligible for VA treatment within our long established system of admission priorities. No veteran is or will be denied VA health care simply because we do not yet have all the answers on Agent Orange.

Max Cleland, Administrator

Veterans Administration

Washington, D.C.

Draft Disagreements

In his letter, Carl O. Olson of Fredonia, N.Y., says [March 3]: "Once again old men talk of sending young men to war." Pick up your history books, Carl, and read where these "old men" were during W.W. I and W.W. II. Certainly not running off to Canada or burning their draft cards. I think these old men did their share and would do it again without hesitation. They deserve a big thank you.

Kathleen Harris Littleton, N.H.

I was extremely offended by Reader Darryl Johnson's comment [Feb. 25], "Now I feel that if a young person is not willing to fight for his country, he has no right living here." I disagree strongly. I am a conscientious objector who refuses to believe that the only way out is war, and I feel I have just as much right to live here as anyone else does.

Tammi J. Lehman Croghan, N. Y.

Frigid Phraseology

The Winter Olympics seem to have had a "chilling" effect on the writers of TIME [March 3]. Immediately after the Olympics coverage, we come to the following frigid phraseology:

World: "The point of this chilling scenario..."

Law: "Snepp is bound to have a 'chilling effect'..."

Economy & Business: "The lawsuit is viewed with icy resentment..."

Medicine: "Reporters charge that [Arnold] Relman's policy has had a chilling effect..."

Art: "Right from the start, Dali was a glacial opportunist..."

And, last, back to World: "Valery Giscard d'Estaing's coolness to U.S. diplomatic..."

I hope by now that TIME writers have returned to their electric blankets and/or warm offices.

Virginia Cook Los Angeles

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