LETTERS

A Vote for Iola



Thank you for your succinct and poignant reply to Mrs. John W. Christner’s letter regarding the popularity of Ms. Iola Johnson (August 1976). You no doubt expressed the sentiments of the majority of your readers, and most certainly my own.

Dallas is blessed with a wealth of beautiful, intelligent, talented, and gracious women; and while it is impossible and perhaps unwise to rank them by any arbitrary set of criteria, our city is clearly a much better and more beautiful place because Ms. Johnson is a part of it.

Nelson H. Spencer

Dallas



A Perfect 10

I couldn’t resist the urge to tell you how much I enjoyed your “Back Page” on discount stores (August 1976). I have lived every minute of it many times! It’s nice to know fathers share the same experience.

But, the last paragraph was the epitome! It was my pleasure to rate this writing a “perfect 10.” (I read your masterpiece shortly after Johnny Carson had his “perfect 10” joke last night.)

Keep up the good work!

M. Woodyard

Dallas



Critic’s Critic

I was thoroughly shocked at Charles Matthews’ review of the movie Logan’s Run (August 1976). He accuses “a rather slow freshman English class” of having written the script. If so, that makes him a high school dropout. Evidently he rates every movie he sees with the archaic standards of Gone With the Wind – this shows that he has prejudiced the movie on the basis of his nostalgia.

Undoubtedly he understood less than 5 percent of the entire movie. The “holograms” used in one scene were representations of Logan’s mind and were not meant to be as clear as he seems to believe.

Roscoe Lee Browne (who, incidentally, is not a “robot” as he, himself, points out) has very much to do with what goes on before him; this is where Logan and Jessica find out that they had been eating disintegrating people in the city, and that they were the first “runners” to ever make it past “Box.”

And nowhere in the entire movie is there even a hint “that machines or Martians or monkeys are smarter than men.” I could go on, but I have not the space.

Obviously the understanding and appreciation of this movie requires more thought than your reviewer is capable of.

Steve Means, (High School Freshman)

Carrollton



I Don’t Like Uniforms

Regarding Kim Dawson’s reaction to girls in short skirts (“That’s out, out, out!”), this is the kind of rigid dogmatism that has created the current uniform look that I, for one, find distasteful. I’d probably like the wrap-and-tie skirts if I didn’t see them everywhere; likewise the voile jackets and T-shirts. This fall we’re all supposed to out-layer a Bavarian torte. The cowl collar was one of my favorites, but I can already see I’ll be sick of it by spring. And worst of all, to expect millions of women of varying heights and proportions to wear the same skirt length defies all rational aesthetics.

The inflexible arbiters of fashion may expect us to be a nation of sheep, huddling together for the security of knowing we have the “in” look, since it’s a well-known fact that a herd is more easily managed and “sold” than individuals are. I, and many others, would rather be “out” – out of uniform and out of the herd. I don’t like uniforms

Judy Schander

Dallas



Bicentennial Disappointment



I have recently been bombarded with radio, television, and newspaper advertisements, along with the cover story of your July issue, promoting the official Bicentennial Home. Anxious to personally view the spectacle, I visited the “fantasy house” on July 1st. Much to my disappointment, the floor was unswept, windows were dusty, and a general disarray of things was evident. I felt as if the house wasn’t ready to be open to the public with much more work yet to be completed. In touring the structure, several questions came to mind concerning procuration of materials, etc. I asked several of the attendants about the origins of the pieces and they stared back with no answer except, “I don’t know. . .1 work for a model agency. . .” No one around seemed to be too interested in talking about the “jewel box” itself.

The tour was slightly entertaining, but I feel a bit cheated by all the deception in advertising and the cost of admission ($2.50). The flowery language in your cover article doesn’t seem to describe the same house. Was this just another commercialized racket bent on taking full advantage of America’s 200th birthday?

Elizabeth Lanman

Dallas

Parking Ticket



I am surprised at your magazine! I have known it always to publish truthful and informative articles, but “Know Parking” (Windfalls, July 1976) falls a bit below my expectations.

As a downtown worker who drives every morning, I have learned through trial and error where the cheap parking lots are. Your map is going to be misguiding many inexperienced persons.

The area bordered by Munger, Field and Ross contains no 50￠ spaces, only 65￠, 75￠ and 85￠ spaces. Since I start work at 9:30 a.m., I find these almost always filled by that time. My best bet is to go out to the lot on McKinney and Field, where you can pay 50￠ a day and get your exercise at the same time. I work in the Fidelity Union Life Building, and from McKinney and Field, it is approximately 1,025 steps to my building.

Karen Price

Dallas