Sly Stallone
Critics be damned! America needs Mr. Stallone and a hero like Rocky Balboa. Inflation, gas lines, even the exorbitant movie admission prices and packed theaters with thermostats set at 78° can't dampen the spirit of this movie (PEOPLE, July 23).
Marsha G. Reichert
Northfield, N.J.
How easy for someone to romanticize, "Sly loves loving women." And how nice to get Susan Anton off the hook by saying, "It's easier when someone's in the business to understand." Understand what?! Marital breakups are a part of our life, true. But by God, let's not manufacture excuses for obliterating "Let no man put asunder" or "Till death us do part."
K. Galbreath
Hawthorne, Calif.
Werner Erhard
It says a lot about the teachings of est when 550 people believe (to the tune of $1,054.55 each) that Werner Erhard's self-indulgence in auto racing is for the sake of mankind and in the name of consciousness-raising. Add one more to the long list of reasons why I think est is the PITS.
F. Greenfield
Brighton, Mass.
Werner Erhard says, "Real people—you and me—feel like they don't make any difference in this lousy world." The only world est changes is an individual's and there aren't individual solutions for transforming this "lousy world." That's not to negate the value of learning to cope and being responsible.
E.A. Snyder
Chicago
John Denver
Are there two John Denvers? There must be. One Denver does TV spots telling us we should conserve our resources. The other installs a 4,000-gallon tank near his home to hoard gasoline.
Maxine Holman
New Castle, Del.
Was it installed on an odd or even day?
David Goetz
Whitesboro, N.Y.
Leon Lederman
In your interesting article on physicist Leon Lederman, you described him as "self-deprecating." Apparently Dr. Lederman hasn't changed his style much over the years. In his high school days he referred to himself as "The Garbage Man." His classmates, however, wouldn't buy that and the class of '39 yearbook at James Monroe High School in the Bronx envisioned him as "doing his d——est to disprove Einstein's Theory of Relativity." He was also voted most likely to succeed.
Lillian Wolfson
Middletown, N.Y.
Bianca Jagger
At first I thought to myself, going to Nicaragua was a really nice thing for Bianca to do. Then when she said it would be a very stiff task to raise her fare so she could go back and work for the Red Cross, I laughed. It was a joke, wasn't it?
Ted Steichen
Indianapolis
Maybe if Bianca gave up Studio 54 for a month she could afford a ticket.
S. Reinert
Kent, Wash.
Burt Reynolds
Isn't Burt Reynolds quite thin in that picture of him backstage at The Elephant Man? We hope he is feeling well.
Barbara Lasher
Karlisle Bestor
Rochester, N.Y.
Burt lost 10 pounds in three weeks (under a doctor's care). "It looks better on film," says Reynolds, who slimmed down for the role of a diamond thief in an upcoming movie. "I don't feel as strong," he concedes, "but then I'm not a fighter. I'm a lover. Actually, I'm not a lover either. I don't feel that strong anymore."
—ED.
L.A. Society
Whatever gave you the idea we common folk could possibly be interested in the social twitterings of the idle rich? Poor things, just one social gathering after another; how exhausting, not to mention the countless thank-you notes. Life can be so demanding.
Mary J. McGuire
Santee, Calif.
To the shoe lady, Mary Bradley Jones, who feels "sorry for the poor housewife who has only her neighbor to talk about pickle recipes with": Yes, we do trade pickle recipes. We also discuss the Cabinet resignations, the long-range implications of OPEC increases, wage-price freezes as a solution to galloping inflation, and we laugh about est, hot tubs and the trash, masquerading as entertainment, emanating from Hollywood. Thank God for the Midwest. It separates us from them.
Lee White
Southbridge, Mass.
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