LETTERS

A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLING



THANK YOU VERY much for the fine article on Dallas’ legislative delegation [“The Dallas Voice in Austin,” February]. That often misunderstood, low-profile but very capable group deserves more praise from our community than it generally receives.

Your analysis is right on target, with one exception. By using a special-interest group’s [The Young Conservatives of Texas] rating system to judge various legislators’ voting records, you fell into their manipulative trap. These groups, whether liberal or conservative, frame their test votes around their ideology and their friends. These interest groups usually have narrow concerns and fail to appreciate that a good representative must take into account all of the concerns of his constituents. Rarely does their rating system bode well for a legislator who votes independently of interest groups.

Charles Gandy

Dallas



THE ARTICLE ON the Dallas area legislators was informative and useful. I must tell you, however, that I was disappointed that one of Dallas’ outstanding legislators was not even mentioned. Sen. Chet Edwards lives in Duncanville and represents the southwest portion of Dallas County in the state Senate. He has a unique Dallas perspective and by all accounts should be considered one of our Dallas-area legislators. For a magazine such as D to overlook one of the outstanding members of this delegation is a glaring oversight.

One of the benefits of your magazine having focused on our legislators was to let them know that they are considered a part of the important process of representation in our area. The City of Dallas, the county of Dallas, the Dallas Chamber of Commerce and other area organizations spend a great deal of time informing and educating these legislators on matters of interest to our community.

Ron Kessler

Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue

Dallas

INSIDE INFO ON THE VNA



THANK YOU FOR THE excellent feature profile on Eddie Bernice Johnson that appeared in the “Insiders” section of the March issue. Those of us who have had the privilege of working with Ms. Johnson at the VNA of Texas were glad to see this talented person get some well-deserved recognition for her professional and community contributions.

Although interesting and well-written, the article did contain two minor inaccuracies relative to the VNA. First of all, Ms. Johnson is an executive director (in charge of community affairs) and not the executive director, as indicated in the article. The VNA’s current executive director is Mary C. Suther. Secondly, the Visiting Nurse Association of Texas is a community-owned, not-for-profit, United Way-supported agency and not a “private health care organization,” as stated in the article.

Thank you again for your excellent feature on Eddie Bernice Johnson and for D’s substantial contribution to a more informed community.

Jerry P. KnippaChairman, Board of Directors



The Visiting Nurse Association of Dallas

THE BRIDWELL AND OTHER TREASURES



SO OFTEN, YOUR magazine makes me aware of the “sins of a native Dallasite”: I take Dallas for granted. Your article on the Bridwell Library [“Chapters & Verse,” April] brought back to mind trips to the SMU campus as a young teen after rehearsals at Marie Pinkley’s Junior Players Guild, restrained romps through the library with my son’s Cub Scout den as a properly concerned suburban den mother and resource searches as a middle-aged student seeking spiritual and human liberation. The facility and I have grown concomitantly.

Sharing my magazine with my parents, who have, in their words, “moved to the country suburb of Dallas-Hillsboro” has been a visit home for them. Dallas and D magazine are gems to be treasured.

June Sherrill Baker

Dallas

MEANINGFUL INSIGHTS

I WANT TO THANK you for publishing the essay by Robert A. Wilson in the “Insights” column, “What it takes to be the best” [March]. For those of us in the business of caring for others, the following sentences are powerful: “To do something- anything-better than it has ever been done is beyond the power of those who satisfy too easily or quickly. Satisfaction often goes unexperienced by those who do things best.”

The article takes a permanent spot in my goals and objectives file.

Jack E. Andrews

Executive Director

Dallas Society for Crippled Children

AS A PROFESSIONAL writer who is both a father’s son and two sons’ father, I envy Bob Wilson [“Insights,” April] for his ability to capture the exquisite pain, incalculable devotion, occasional envy and continuing admiration wrapped up with being either-and both. And the indelible thrill that comes on that day when both, as men, are able to say, “I love you.”

Mike Engleman

Dallas



COMMUNICATION VS. HIGH TECHNOLOGY

AT LAST A PUBLICATION has the courage to address the issue of communication without understanding [“Editor’s Page,” April]. The causes of our misguided efforts to relate are no doubt numerous and complex. Nonetheless, it is obvious, even to the most casual observer, that a side effect of high technology is depersonalization. If professionals as a group are to survive the information bombardment, they must retain the essential qualities of empathy and listening. We would all do well to remember that God gave us the ability to hear and the challenge of developing an ability to listen.

Thank you. Lee Cullum, for presenting fresh ideas regarding a sensitive issue; you are a true pioneer.

Larry L. Pace

Dallas