I was quite pleased to open the Dec. 28 Magazine and find the piece on John Pierce (“Voices of the People”). I’ve often wondered what happened to him.
When I was a probation officer in the late 1950s, John was my supervising officer at Family Court. In a system that was rife with politics, corruption, etc., John was a beacon of integrity. He was more than a supervisor; he was, in the truest and best sense, our mentor. His division had an esprit de corps not found anywhere else in the court.
I’m now an instructor in psychology at Chicago State University and I still use the ideas and principles John used with us.
Al Manaster, Chicago
It was a delight to read Sydney Lewis’ article on “Voices of the People.” These are the kinds of stories that have been missing ever since it was decided to drop the “Chicago Voices” column from the Magazine, as I wrote in my correspondence three years ago. There is so much substance and they take so little space.
Donald W.J. Weber, Chicago
HEAVENLY, ANYWAY
While Door County may be “Hockey heaven,” the people in the Midwest Portrait of Dec. 21 are not playing hockey. They are playing broomball. None of the participants is wearing ice skates. All have brooms, not hockey sticks. And if you look closely at the left middle of the picture, three players are “sweeping” at a mid-sized ball, the object of attention in a broomball game.
Perhaps “Broomball bliss” might be a better title.
Terran Mensan, Chicago
(Editor’s note: We agree.)
CHRISTMAS PRESENT
Thank you for printing Bob Condor’s beautiful article about his quest for a family (“Journey of the Heart,” Dec. 21). Mary Haubold’s photographs were the perfect accompaniment. It was a lovely Christmas gift to me. Please continue to include stories of inspiration, love and hope in your paper.
Susan Lindsay, La Grange
FREE ENTERTAINMENT
My writing skills fall far afield from explaining how touched I was when I read Allen M. Young’s essay, “Winter’s Weeds” (Dec. 14). I, too, can look out over my ragged little wildflower patch, summer and winter, and be thankful as I sip my coffee.
I marvel most at the little birds that lunch there each day, leaving their tiny footprints in the fresh snow. The rabbit and even the squirrels search for tasty tidbits under the snow.
Who needs fancy entertainment when we can relax while watching nature’s show?
Alice Powers, Rochelle
THE CARDINAL’S IMAGE
How disappointing to read the Dec. 14 letters to the editor interpreting C.F. Payne’s image of our beloved cardinal (Nov. 2 cover). I read the drawing symbolically. The elongated image seemed to me to be what the cardinal is to us today: He is still more alive than dead; he is undergoing a metamorphosis from the physical to the spiritual.
If Payne were to draw another image of the cardinal on the second anniversary of his death–and I wish he would–we would hardly recognize the cardinal because our image of his physical person would have begun to fade.
Monica L. Zabor, Arlington Heights
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