Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone (PEOPLE, June 21) fulfilled his fantasy of being a fighter by portraying Rocky Balboa. We fulfill our fantasies of being heroes through Stallone, who is very human and not too far from our reach.
Jana Eichmeyer
Huntington Beach, Calif.
What I admire most about Sly Stallone is his wife, Sasha. Sticking with him through very, very difficult times, poor and rich, is the most splendid example of love I've ever seen.
Lindy Baran
Avenel, N.J.
You've had some hunky men on the cover, but Sly knocks the rest out cold.
Marianne Vrobel
Stump Creek, Pa.
Tom Goldsmith
Tom Goldsmith, the man who has been father to 44 foster children, should have been on your cover. I hope that I can be as good a parent to my two children as Tom has been to so many other people's children.
Debbie Dixon
Vinita, Okla.
I was very touched by your article on Tom Goldsmith. I was also appalled to hear the accusations made by the people in his town. Just because he is caring enough to want to help young people through some very strained teenage years, people label him a homosexual. I am gay, and I can see a need for someone like this in our community. Isn't it a shame that I cannot help these young men because of my sexual preference? We aren't all sexual perverts.
Jerry Cerasini
Macon, Ga.
Barbara Walters
After reading that Barbara Walters researched and interviewed Willie Nelson in depth for her TV special, I wondered how in the world Walters could ever have wanted Willie to shave and put on a suit. Country's outlaw would lose much of his sex appeal if he gave up the jeans, T-shirt, bandanna, beard and long hair. Walters did not—as her producer claimed she usually does—figure out the success of this casual, if moody, singer if she wanted to change his personal appearance.
Martha Miller
Beaumont, Texas
In the June 21 issue, Barbara Walters ponders reincarnation. She thinks that her next life could be simpler and says, "I would like to come back dumb, blond and Catholic." I submit that she has fulfilled at least two of her dreams in this current life.
Robert S. Juskevich, M.D.
Virginia Beach, Va.
Jake Butcher
I'm glad Jake Butcher is so proud of Knoxville and the 1982 World's Fair. However, after attending the fair, being ripped off by a hotel that had been thrown up overnight, and standing in line three hours to see exhibits that proved to be uninteresting, I found nothing for Knoxville to be proud of. In fact, I met several local residents who apologized for the whole fiasco.
Susan C. Hodges
Baton Rouge, La.
Adrian Wells
The article about the man who grows dandelions commercially brought back pleasant memories. My dad would pick what he called "a big mess" of them, and Mom would cook them with cured ham, then freeze them until I could make a trip home to Illinois.
Marian C. Parlier
San Antonio
Anti-nukes concert
I wonder how many people would show up for such an event if there were no rock groups singing or celebrities speaking but just speeches made by no-name individuals? I'd bet my last dollar 99.9 percent of those who attended remember only the music and nothing of what the rally was about.
Mike Laudenslager
Findlay, Ohio
James Galloway
What a wonderful article about acid rain! James Galloway explained it clearly, precisely and without a lot of technical mumbo jumbo.
Peggy J. Banks
Wabash, Ind.
Mama and Papa Bear
I have just one question for Ben Adan, Eureka, Calif.'s acting director of parks and recreation, and City Manager Robert Stockwell: If you were remodeling your house, would you have your children killed to save the expense of putting them up at a motel? Thank God for Bruce Ptolemy who was humane enough to save the cubs.
Donna J. Rodgers
San Antonio
Nell Carter
I have always wondered if some TV personalities are the same in real life as they are on their television series. Now I know that Nell Carter is just as witty and charming offscreen.
Darlene Bukowski
St. Cloud, Minn.
Chris Peterman
My sympathy goes out to the Peterman family for the loss of their son. It sickens me to think that the judicial system is so petty as to put a 17-year-old in jail for $73 in traffic fines when so many of the nation's real criminals receive pitifully short jail sentences or are given nothing more than probation.
B. Deger
Chicago
The tragic series of events that culminated in Chris Peterman's death would not have happened in Multnomah County, Oreg. Here people convicted of nonviolent offenses like speeding are given a choice of incarceration or work for public service agencies. This sort of program is a cost-effective and humane sentencing alternative. Chris Peterman died for offenses which, if committed locally, would have resulted in 40 hours of labor for an agency like the Red Cross, Portland Recycling or the Washington Park Zoo. More important, Chris would be alive.
Harley Leiber
Program Coordinator
Alternative Community Services
Portland, Oreg.
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