THE SOUND AND THE FURY

Judgment at Attica

On the first page of The Men in D Yard (March), Tom Wicker confessed to having “had quite a lot of wine” at the time of his summons to Attica. As I read his account of his adventures there, I kept wondering if he might not have suffered from an overdose of spiritus frumenti throughout his stay as well as during the time he spent in setting down his record thereof. Something, at any rate, appears to have altered his judgmental abilities.

“. . . He had thought almost not at all about the hostages,” and since the majority of the other “observers” were of much the same stripe as Mr. Wicker, it seems obvious that Mr. Mancusi was entirely correct in thinking that “the outsiders did not seem . . . to be much concerned with the fate of his guards. . . .” He shouldn’t have been surprised. I wasn’t.

Mr. Wicker treats us to excerpts from the stereotyped revolutionary jargon now so “right on” in some circles. All the desperately fatigued clichés are there. The clenched Comintern fists. He asks whether, why, or if the people he describes were, “Thieves and murderers compared to whom?” The chances are that many of them are thieves and murderers compared to me. “Prisoners of society due to what accidents and perversions of the same society?” Oy!

Although it pains me to agree with anything Rockefellerian, Mr. Wicker’s disagreement indicates that he has learned nothing from history: accession to terrorists’ demands merely invites further terrorism.

C. W. Morrison, M.D.
Savannah, Ga.

Cry, the beloved country caper

After reading the article The Amazing New-Country Caper by Andrew St. George (February), I ran to the mirror to see if I had sprouted a Hitler moustache. Fortunately, there was none; I was the same old Mike Oliver. My suspicion, therefore, is that your article on my New-Country Project and its involvement in the Bahamian island of Abaco belongs in the realm of fantasy.

There is no such thing as a WerBell-Oliver organization, although it is well-known that Mitch WerBell is interested in the future of Abaco. The New-Country Project, however, is, as you correctly state, interested in founding a new country, based on libertarian ideals of economic, social and political freedom. This becomes all the more necessary as the West rushes headlong into monetary crisis and collapse.

We were approached by persons from the Abaco Independence Movement for assistance in their struggle against the Pindling regime in Nassau. This was, and still is, a political rather than a military struggle, and we have done nothing in this respect, nor engaged in any other activities of a dubious nature.

We have, among other things, helped to draft a constitution for an independent Abaco, based on individual freedom. In this document the duties of government are limited to its proper functions: to protect citizens against force and fraud. Any other function of government is illegitimate and immoral. This document received virtually unanimous approval at A.I.M.’s first annual convention last year. We have done nothing without the knowledge and approval of Abaco’s leaders. All the documents which we have helped to draft remain provisional until after Abaco achieves its goal and its leaders receive the free approval of a free people. Abaconians voted overwhelmingly against staying under the Pindling regime in 1972. At present, Abaco remains in a state of servitude and bondage, and it was the largess of such as Robert Vesco that put it there. How about investigating that one?

Incidentally, the proposed Abaco constitution, based to some extent on my book, expressly excludes foreigners (including myself) from having anything to do with the government of Abaco. Further, the articles of the proposed Abaco National Land Trust ensure each Abaconian shares in all publicly held land, as well as one acre per adult person, without reference (contrary to Esquire’s account) to the political situation after home rule on Abaco. The tenders do not state that the shares or land deeds are conditional upon the political situation being “just and fair,” as stated in Esquire.

Currently, a petition is being circulated by the Abaco Independence Movement seeking greater autonomy in the island’s own affairs. Already it has received the signatures of over fifty percent of the island’s adult population, both black and white.

Lastly, though I indeed have a “ravishingly beautiful secretary,” she is happily married. And as for “my first million by the time I was thirty,” well, I am still waiting—and working—for that.

Mike Oliver
Carson City, Nev.

Prophets vs. profits

Beyond Depression (February) should be required reading for every public official and corporation executive. Alvin Toffler’s telling it like it is stands in refreshing, though sobering and perhaps frightening, contrast to the Pollyannaism flowing from the satrapies of Big Business. I’ve more than a suspicion that these moguls who thunder and rail from their corporate thrones about “Prophets of Doom” are really scared as hell of the “Doom of Profits.”

Glenn Meagher
Fairfax, Calif.

Très cher

The cover line on the February issue, “Who’s man enough for this woman?” (The Winning of Cher), should have read, “Who’s crazy enough for this woman?” Cher, the Dark Lady, who sings like a female George Burns and is a big spender par excellence, can be compared with Cleopatra on one hand and Jackie Onassis on the other, minus the elegance displayed by these two ladies. David Geffen is the perfect mate.

F. C. Buzzell
Spring Lake, Mich.

Well, it does my heart good to know that even with all of David Geffen’s success, he still has to pay $38,000 to get his woman (The Winning of Cher, February). Maybe after Cher’s TV series bombs he’ll ship her off to Aspen forever to live in her expensive condo. They both sound like a couple of twenty-watt bulbs to me.
Bob Clark
Knoxville, Tenn.

Formidable fiction

I have been a subscriber to Esquire for many years, but I have rarely encountered in your fiction section a story so concentrated and powerful as the one by T. Coraghessan Boyle (Heart of a Champion, January). The style, depth, and focus appear to be just right to carry the heavy weight of the story line, which in itself is the frightening parable of the duality of nature.

Kelsie B. Harder
Potsdam, N.Y.

Just finished reading False Lights (January) and I am writing you immediately to say how much I enjoyed Gail Godwin’s story. It is superb, a delightful treatment of “December-June” spousery.

Caryl E. Chudwin
Olympia Fields, Ill.