LETTERS

SELLING BEAUTY

I READ “BEAUTY FOR SALE, ” [JULY] , THINKing “Well, if they’ve got the money, more power to them.” Then another thought came around: Anyone with good credit can become quite a looker. How many people (not just women like your article implies) are saving every penny to get the ooohs and aaahs they want? I recall contemplating breast augmentation tor many months, then finally deciding if someone doesn’t like me because my chest doesn’t fit their satisfaction, they can go play in traffic!

Then there’s the liposuction-what makes you think you can keep fat off yourself afterwards if you’re too lazy to get rid of it in the first place? I work hard at keeping my size five jeans because I remember what it was like when I was not able to wear them.

H. CLARKE

IRVING



GENERAL PLASTIC SURGEONS WHO FEEL THAT those of us certified by the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery “took a shortcut to practice…” are consumed by hyper-inflated egos, surgical insecurity and unbridled greed. After my fellowship in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery and subsequent board certification in the same, 1 interviewed at several excellent plastic surgery programs. It’s true that the residents in those programs do “hundreds of cases…before they finish training.” However, 99 percent of those singeries are reconstructive, not cosmetic, in nature.

The fact, and it’s true, that Jack Gunter was “teaching the professors at Southwestern how to do a rhinoplasty while he was still a plastic surgeon resident” is because he learned that surgical procedure as an ENT resident just like those of us certified by the ABFPRS did. Fritz Barton is both right and wrong; wrong in that facial cosmetic surgeons aren’t “self-designated” (our specialty is an extension of our original broad training in head and neck surgery); right in that “they” (general plastic surgeons) are capable of doing good cosmetic work, in spite of the paucity of experience in the same during their residency.

RANDALL P. WEYRICH, M.D.

HOT SPRINGS, ARK.

NO NUDES IS GOOD NUDES

IT USED TO BE JUST PLAYBOY ET AL THAT DID it, but now, in the past few months, I’ve seen Rolling Stone, Newsweek, Spy, People and Life among others putting nudes on their covers. Even a magazine dealing with dogs has two naked men on its cover, their dogs held in front of their privates!

I’m no prude or anything; I don’t mind seeing nude pictures in magazines, but I wish these editors would have the common sense to keep them inside the magazines and off their covers. I wonder what your average North Dallas-area mother would think if she took her kids to Tom Thumb to do some grocery shopping and one of her kids picked up the July issue of D Magazine with a totally nude woman on the cover. I don’t think it would be anything complimentary.

Now I think it’s time that all these photographers and cover editors (especially yours) went back to their respective homes and took some long, cold showers.

THOMAS OVERBECK

DALLAS

ALL PATHS LEAD TO PEROT

WICK ALLISON’S OTHERWISE EXCELLENT piece on the sports arena [July] didn’t quite unroll the string far enough. A Dallas arena definitely should be located downtown, as he eloquently explained. But Dallas needs the arena much more than these teams need a city of Dallas location. As Allison points out, neither the city nor the mayor seem in the position to wave the magic wand and make this happen. Hence all the paths lead to Ross Perot Jr., successful real estate developer and principal owner of the Mavericks.

With a fragmented city government probably politically incapable of delivering the needed public funds for arena construction, there would appear to be two likely scenarios. One has Perot Jr. and/or other private interests pursuing arena construction, along with developing other adjacent facilities, at a spot somewhere in Dallas. This would greatly expand the odds against a downtown arena location. The other scenario of course would be a site somewhere else in the Metroplex.

If Perot, Hicks, et al should decide to build a downtown Dallas arena on their nickel, Dallas ought to erect statues in their honor. But if the city can’t deliver, and the arena winds up elsewhere, spare us the gasps of shock.

CRAWFORD M. HERRICK

DALLAS

ROCKIN’ ROBIN

GEE WHIZ, IF YOU ARE GOING TO ENTICE newcomers to Dallas, get your facts straight. In your Newcomers’ Guide [July], Nolan Ryan had seven no-hitters, not six. Also, you didn’t mention that Robin Ventura is the only major league batter to get six hits off Nolan Ryan in one inning!

BETTYE L. PULLEN

DALLAS

“A PRICELESS GIFT”

YOUR RECENT ISSUE HIGHLIGHTING “THE Best Doctors in Dallas” [May] was interesting and informative. 1 doubt that I would be able to write this letter today if it were not for Dr. Lon Michael Goldstein, a urologist recognized in your story as one of Dallas’ finest.

I recently contracted a rumor of the bladder diagnosed as aggressive and life-threatening. Allowing me scarcely enough time to swallow a pail of purgative salts and brush my teeth, Dr. Goldstein ushered me onto the operating table where he removed my bladder and prostate gland, a procedure known as a radical cystectomy. Before concluding his eight-hour surgical ordeal, he did something even more amazing than the cystectomy. He fabricated a new bladder for me from a section of my lower intestine. Sixteen months later I feel good and live a normal life.

How does one respond after receiving a priceless gift like this? For obvious reasons it pleases me to see Dr. Goldstein recognized by his peers in your magazine. They pay him his just dues, but it is his patients such as I who remain forever beholden to the man.

BOBBY C. BEILUE

DALLAS