Letters, Sep. 22, 1980

Polish Strikers

To the Editors:

Marxists have preached and "prayed" for more than a hundred years that the collapse of capitalist countries in general, and the near capitalist U.S. in particular, would come about by a revolt of the "exploited" working class. Now look at Poland [Sept. 1]. Whose workers in what type of country are revolting?

Bart Kosko Los Angeles

Isn't it amazing that the butts of all those stupid Polish jokes could make the whole world hold its breath? Some would have said that the Poles possessed suicidal courage and had no hope of succeeding. But they have succeeded by proving to men and women everywhere that no force on earth or in hell can take away a man's will.

Mary Gallagher Reimold Greenville, Pa.

Prolonged wage and price controls do not work, even in a socialist-controlled economy. If the relief valve on the pressure cooker is jammed shut by government policy, without regard for economic reality, any fleeting benefits are bought at the price of an eventual explosion.

M. Robert Paglee Moorestown, N.J.

Editor, Edit Thyself

According to the article "The Decline of Editing" [Sept. 1], "The fight against the misuse of 'hopefully' (for 'I hope') is just about lost." In your review of the Peking opera [Aug. 25], the wife of Mao Tse-tung, Jiang Qing, is mentioned in this way: "Thankfully, Jiang herself has now fallen out of favor." Does this mean that Jiang is thankful that she fell out of favor, or does it mean that the fight against the misuse of "thankfully" is just about lost?

Edwin Newman New York City

Putting aside my desire to mumble something about the pot calling the ketle black—TIME having scrambled more syntax than Professor Backwards—I appreciate the cry for better editing of books.

But I protest the gratuitous poke at Betty Prashker of Doubleday, an editor of taste, skill and compassion. Editors, the best editors, do more than undangle participles and unsplit infinitives.

Prashker is there when I need her, not there when I don't. She perceives the indescribable pain of researching and writing books, and, in my case, has been of immeasurable help in producing two Bestsellers. I need her and love her.

Thomas Thompson Los Angeles

A fine could be instituted for using faulty grammar and orthography. A law could be written along the lines of pornography legislation. Corrupting people's ability to communicate certainly is at least as harmful as corrupting their morals.

K. Eckhard Kuhn-Osius New York City

Naturally I have no way of telling who comprised the "sampling of writers, editors and agents" that decided that my novel Sophie's Choice "needed more editing." But I do know that in the hands of Robert Loomis, my editor at Random House, the book received the most intelligent and capable scrutiny possible, and I would not want to change a word of it.

William Styron Vineyard Haven, Mass.

Faith May Be a Remedy