New Year 2000 Party Album
I was very disappointed to see that the article on New Year's Eve celebrity performers didn't include the one who actually brought in the new millennium live on network television—Neil Diamond. He is no less a superstar than Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Billy Joel and Celine Dion. PEOPLE made a terrible mistake in not acknowledging a man whose career has spanned over 30 years and who continues to perform to sold-out arenas around the world!
Deborah Andresen, Westford, Mass.

I couldn't understand why there was no mention of the Neil Diamond concert in Denver. It was One of the best of the night!
Ronnie Miller, Lubbock, Texas

Linda Tripp
Linda Tripp just doesn't get it. She was (and is) the butt of jokes and is labeled—in her words—"the ugliest woman in America" not because of her appearance but because of her behavior. She is reviled because of her hatefulness, deceit and hypocrisy. She is the personification of everyone's worst nightmare: the backstabbing coworker or friend. No amount of plastic surgery is going to change that. She is living in a media hell that she created for herself, and she deserves no sympathy. Maybe a personality transplant would help.
Deborah Gilbert, New York City

Can Linda Tripp possibly be so clueless to think that what much of America hates about her are her looks? Better to have had her surgeon implant a moral compass than make cosmetic changes.
Maureen B. Crow, Pasadena

Ms. Tripp is the ugliest woman in America—she betrayed a friend. There's nothing uglier than that.
Joan Tyer, Las Vegas

Ms. Tripp is now Mrs. Doubtfire!
Gretchen Keng, El Paso

Even my ultraconservative grandparents were appalled when they received a fund-raising request for Linda Tripp's legal expenses. If she miraculously transformed herself into Cindy Crawford, she would still be ugly to me.
Laurie Edwards, Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Unless your magazine paid for her surgery, you're no better than the other meanies Linda has had to deal with. Couldn't you wait until her surgical stress was not so evident before publishing her picture? I know from personal experience what that surgery feels like afterward. The patient looks ravaged. Go back in six months for a real surgical success story.
Name Withheld

Perhaps that anonymous $30,000 donor for surgical enhancement had a bigger heart than pocket-book. And perhaps the heart broke just a bit at tuning in to the media and watching a fellow human being metaphorically burned at the stake because of her looks. Whatever Linda Tripp did legally or illegally had nothing to do with her physical appearance.
Kathleen Bittner Roth, Naples, N.Y.

I read your article on Linda Tripp's surgery, and I was repulsed. It is sad that she was made to feel so horrible about herself that she felt compelled to slash her face away to please the likes of celebrities and the male chauvinist media. Why is it that we can have a fat, gray-haired President with absolutely no class or morals and that is acceptable, but every woman who crosses his path has to feel degraded and mocked to the point of complete renovation?
Ingrid Powers, Lakewood, Calif.

Your treatment of Linda Tripp disgusts me. Your hatchet job speaks more loudly about PEOPLE than it does about her. Surely the privacy issues trusted to a physician should be respected and his ethics and yours certainly questioned when photos of a patient are used in a national magazine. Up against the sleazy Clinton Administration, she taped conversations to protect herself. While she tries to rebuild her life, you have chosen to chop her off at the knees and have attempted to make her an object of ridicule. Shame on you.
Mary Rogers, Springfield, Mass.

Kurt Warner
As a single mother of two, I was happy to see there are still some Prince Charmings in the world! Kurt Warner demonstrates that a person can balance family, a tremendous job and a devotion to God. The Warners are shining examples to all of us. And I'm sure I don't have to tell Brenda Warner that she is a lucky woman!
L. DeMarco, Springfield, Ill.

Ted Turner & Jane Fonda
Enough of these selfish, ego-filled divorce cases. These celebrities don't seem to have a clue about real life. They have perfect mates, perfect bodies, perfect teeth and homes all over the world. Still they can't find happiness. What's wrong with this picture? My husband is 55, recently suffered two strokes and is recovering from quintuple bypass heart surgery. Last week our van broke down. Then our VCR went out, and this week the repairman said our picture tube is going out on our television set. (Actually, it's okay, because I can't afford to pay the cable bill anyway!) I work 10-hour days to support us and have no health insurance. These are real problems. But we still count our blessings, however small, every day. What we do have is faith, a good sense of humor and a love of life. Tell all those superstars to stop whining and smell the roses.
Ginger Albrecht, Dana Point, Calif.

Star Tracks
I never would have guessed it! I was blown away when I saw the photograph of a gorgeous blond who turned out to be beautiful Ricky Martin. That dude looks good in any color—red, purple, green or white—but blond just made me get goosebumps all over.
Andy Galan, Kerrville, Texas