• March 30, 1992
• Vol. 37
• No. 12

Mail

Correspondents—many of them divorced women—were generally unsympathetic to Joan Lunden's observation that divorcing her husband was "scary" (PEOPLE, March 9). The prevailing view was that divorce is a lot less scan for Lunden than for women who do not have seven-figure incomes.

JOAN LUNDEN
Joan Lunden thanks God she is "one of the most organized individuals on earth." She should thank God that she has the financial capability to completely furnish an 8,000-square-foot home in 10 days and order seven television sets for next-day delivery. Millions of single mothers leave their marriages with no money, no job and no place to live.
REBECCA TRAVIS, Salisbury, Md.

I am confused as to what Joan Lunden is supposed to be scared of. She insults the millions of us single parents who work hard just to keep food on the table, clothes on our children and bills and rents paid. If my biggest problem when my three children and I were on our own had been whether Bloomingdale's could deliver a houseful of furniture in 10 days, I would have had it made!
D. BRITTAN, Trumbull, Conn.

I greatly admire Joan Lunden's courage in admitting publicly that her marriage failed, as do thousands of other marriages, due to trying to juggle career and family and be a super-spouse. It's life, it happens, and it doesn't always have to be linked to an affair.
JOAN CARRY, Marina del Rey, Calif.

I try not to begrudge anyone who has worked hard for what they have, but after a hard day at the office I find I'm much too tired to work up any sympathy for Joan Lunden. When I got divorced, I didn't have enough money after paying bills, a sitter, etc., to take my son to McDonald's.
CINDY VAN DE VEIRE, Batavia, Ill.

If all the married women in America had the financial independence that Joan Lunden enjoys, there would be no married women in America!
BARB JAWORSKI, Plymouth, Minn.

In the interest of privacy and the well-being of our three daughters, I have heretofore kept my end of a promise not to speak to the press. However I feel that my continued silence only deepens the hurt to my reputation. I cannot continue to allow outsiders to publicly provide opinions on my life. Lines from your previous story on the end of my marriage (PEOPLE, Feb. 10), like "their two careers—inseparable but unequal—may have contributed to their breakup, are simply untrue. Was I "riding on her coattails" as a coworker suggests? No, more like piloting a rocketship to success. I created, sold and produced programs and commercials for my wife. The line "as she has gotten more successful, Michael has gotten less" is also far from the truth. The fact is that as Michael created more and more shows and revenue streams, Joan increased her leverage with ABC, thereby helping her net an extremely lucrative contract. My company has paid Joan Lunden and her company millions of dollars over the past several years. By the way, the title of your March 9 story, "Joan Alone," seems particularly inappropriate since Joan and I share custody of our three daughters. Our marriage may no longer be, but our parenting is still a 50-50 affair.
MICHAEL KRAUSS, White Plains, N.Y.

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON
Marianne Williamson has just reinvented the wheel. Return to Love is a new best-seller, but the concept is as old as the Bible. The elite have made God a dirty three-letter word, so she repackaged the message and became a sensation. Is there a law concerning spiritual plagiarism?
DOLORES SQUEGLIA, New York City

I am dismayed to see the "guru-iza-tion" of yet another high priest/priestess of psychobabble who teaches one thing and behaves entirely differently offstage. Moreover, since her lectures are an "amalgam of Christianity, Buddhism [et al.],"...I object to her reference to herself as a "Jewish mother"—unwed or otherwise.
GENA BLINDERMAN, Ashland, Mass.

PICKS & PANS
Tonight Show producer Fred DeCordova talks in a recent article about trying to get guests on the show before Johnny Carson leaves in May. You said, "For the producer, 'the only disappointment' was Cary Grant, who politely declined yet again, telling DeCordova, 'That is not my business. I read the lines people write for me.' " Considering that Cary Grant died in 1986, I would have to think there would be a few other reasons for the star's reluctance to appear.
TED JOHNSON, Long Beach, Calif.

Nostra culpa. Cary Grant's performances may be immortal, but, alas, he is not. We could explain how this error—which was not TV critic David Hiltbrand's—slipped through the usually fine mesh of our editorial process, but it would take too long. Somewhere, we like to think Cary and Elvis are having a good laugh over this.—ED.