ACTIVE SENIORS
Retired academic is
example of aging well
Bill Hendrick’s article about Manning Pattillo was right on the money (“Retired college chief: Activity may be key to longevity,” Metro, April 17).
He is a remarkable individual who strives to get others engaged in meaningful activities. I have been involved with him in a number of organizations, most recently the English-Speaking Union, where he has served for many years as chairman of our branch. It is surprising and telling how many organizations he chairs.
The article failed to mention Manning’s storehouse of Churchill quotations that he often gives in his talks on Winston Churchill. He really is a “Hometown Hero”.
CHARLES H. MADDREY, PRESIDENT, ENGLISH-SPEAKING UNION, ATLANTA BRANCH
WORLD RELATIONS
We have to learn why
so many people hate us
On Sept. 11, 2001, I wrote to the AJC that we must focus on the question: Why are we hated so much?
On April 16, 2013, I raised the same question. We suffer enormous inconvenience and anxiety because of this hatred. We have wasted trillions of dollars because of this hatred. We have maimed or killed tens of thousands of innocent people, including thousands of children, because of this hatred. It’s like a man with a severe leg infection in a modern hospital who tries chants, meditation — everything but antibiotics.
We will continue to suffer until we sit down with al-Qaida, the Palestinians, Iran, North Korea and the many other groups — foreign and domestic — which hate our government.
HARRIS GREEN, BIG CANOE
BOSTON MARATHON
May have been unwise
to publish bomb details
While I applaud the AJC’s efforts to provide complete coverage of the recent horrific bombing at the Boston Marathon, I question the wisdom of your including a detailed graphic showing the construction of an improvised explosive device using a pressure cooker, such as the ones police believe were used (News, April 17).
Do we really need to give any copycats and wannabe-terrorists out there — not to mention real ones — this kind of help figuring out how to make a bomb that will kill and maim as many people as possible? I am by no means advocating censorship, but I do think you should give more careful thought to how much, and what kind, of information you include in your reporting.
MATT G. LEGER, ATLANTA
SECOND AMENDMENT
Legislators’ gun vote
reveals true loyalties
The result of the Senate vote on a modest proposal for background checks was shocking. This almost religious zeal by our elected officials of worshiping at the altar of shiny things that go boom has got to stop.
Our supposed public servants have shown who and what they respect. It is obviously not our children and their safety. At the next election, these elected officials need to be reminded who truly determines their future — and it is not the gun lobby.
DENNIS TRUSCH, CANTON
LIFE BALANCE
Women at home also
work, if not for pay
“Balancing work, home not easy” (Living, April 18) is only one of a multitude of examples of the curious truth that what has traditionally been “women’s work” has disappeared from public consciousness. Long before the 1970s feminist movement broke, women who were outside the paid labor market were said to be “not working.” This is misleading and unfair.
Throughout history, women — married and single, childless and mothers of large families — have performed some of the most necessary and important work. Cleaning and tidying a house; doing laundry; cooking; decorating a home, and raising children are all forms of work. If performed for one’s own family, it is work that is outside the paid labor market, but it is still work. We need to recognize that women who are outside the paid labor market are nevertheless working.
DENISE NOE, ATLANTA
