Mail

Liza Minnelli

Miss Minnelli (PEOPLE, Nov. 26) is to be congratulated on her intelligence for recognizing she had a problem, on her courage for seeking help and on her open heart for sharing her experience with readers.

Parke S. Smith

Norco, La.

Today Liza is living proof that history—in this case that of her brilliant and sadly missed mother—need not repeat itself.

Larry Zimmerman

Carlstadt, N.J.

In answer to her question: “What will people think?” I want to say, Liza, we think you are the greatest. Welcome back!

Bob Davis

Sugar Land, Texas

Terry Cole-Whittaker

Evangelist Terry Cole-Whittaker contends that the eight student nurses Richard Speck killed “created” their own murders. These young women had hopes and dreams of helping others until one night an inhuman monster ended their aspirations. Speck was at fault.

Robert A. Hendry

Tucson

For too long God has been given a backseat in the lives of too many. Terry is willing to take risks, as Jesus did, in order to help people achieve love, peace and prosperity. Who really wants poverty, hate, self-doubt and a loveless life? I don’t.

Marti Burkhardt

Mesa, Ariz.

Last Sunday I watched Terry Cole-Whittaker’s broadcast as she repeatedly stressed that if you do not choose abundance, you choose poverty. Her show was followed by a news special about the hundreds of thousands of innocent people starving to death in Africa. I doubt that a single one of them chose the horror they find themselves going through. Or is positive thinking only for those of us fortunate enough to choose whether we’d prefer prime rib or rack of lamb for dinner tonight?

Michael Larsen

Palm Springs

Traditional religions and their leaders have failed to lead mankind away from the fires of hell in the form of nuclear warfare. If it takes showbiz hype for the Reverend Terry to get her message across and bring us closer to universal peace, I hope she continues to go for it.

Jane Spivey

Vista, Calif.

Princess Di

For you to make such a big to-do about Diana’s putting her hair up is ridiculous, and for others to say that she did it to cure postpartum depression is tasteless. She still looks great. It’s hardly as if she dyed it pink and purple and then shaved it into a Mohawk.

Wendy J. Doty

Seattle

Sharlene Wells

It is no surprise to me that sex is so accepted in my high school. The media bombards us with the attitude that was so perfectly summed up in the question you put to the new Miss America, Sharlene Wells: “Isn’t it awfully old-fashioned to wait until you’re married?” It is just a year since Miss Wells was a teenager, yet PEOPLE seems to regard her virginity as abnormal. I am 16, and two of the greatest fears of my peer group are being old-fashioned and being abnormal—exactly what your article suggests we are if we abstain from sex. The article also failed to relate what can happen if we don’t abstain. Premarital sex has major consequences, especially for teenagers, such as unwanted pregnancy and the emotional trauma experienced when adolescents enter too soon into an adult relationship. Maybe it is old-fashioned to wait until you’re married, but it seems only logical to wait until you’re an independent adult.

Kerry L. Ulm

Henderson, Ill.

Gourmet children

How very sad I am for the so-called “gourmet children,” who attend high-pressured, high-prestige schools at such a young age. These people are rearing kids who may speak Chinese but will never understand the unique, mysterious language of childhood.

Patricia M. Corcoran

Arlington, Va.

I could not understand your article on “gourmet children.” As my brother and I both go to “in” private schools in New York, I found this article a total blowup of the situation. We both got into these schools because of our intelligence and our personalities, not by means of false, misleading preparatory courses. All you do by enlarging the issue is to make parents more uptight about schools, a feeling they will pass on to their children.

Sarah Gorham

New York City

Mail

In his letter about the first female correspondent on 60 Minutes, Richard Salant said: “It is a measure of what a super reporter Diane is and Michele [Clark] was that it took 12 years to find anybody who could match Michele.” I mean no disrespect to the memory of Ms. Clark, but what a trite justification this is for ignoring all the other talented women in broadcasting for so many years. The ridiculous statements men in power make to buttress their sexist decisions appall me.

Brigid M. Smith

Easton, Conn.

Puzzle

I purchased my new PEOPLE today and noticed that the Puzzle was the same one that appeared in the Nov. 12 issue. Also, the answers listed were those for the Nov. 5 issue instead of those for the Nov. 19 issue. What a disappointment!

Mary Szweada

Bayonne, N.J.

We apologize for the mix-up. Here are the answers for the Nov. 19 Puzzle:

1. Conrad Bain

2. Dan Marino

3. Walter Payton

4. Barry Goldwater

5. Shelley Long

6. Richard Avedon

7. David Bowie

8. Michael Ende

9. Owen Bieber

10. Jamie Lee Curtis

11. Trent Lott

12. Cyndi Lauper

13. Stephanie Brush

14. Alison Lurie

15. Tommy Tune

16. Andrew Rooney

17. Alain Delon

18. Chuck Woolery

19. Marilyn Home

20. Reathel Bean