READERS BITE BACK

Letters

The Mother of Us All

Maijorie Williams's portrayal of Barbara Bush ["Barbara's Backlash," August] was, for the most part, the picture of a lady who grew up in an earlier time, with different standards and different rules about what marriage should be. It was also a fairly accurate look at someone who is sensitive about her appearance, protective of her family, thoughtful about her place in the world, strong in her convictions, and a perfect complement to her husband. How very human that makes her seem!

Where Williams attempted to make her seem inhuman, in our opinion, was in her dealings with her staff. Perhaps it is not strange that the only people who felt compelled to discuss her "difficult," "demanding," "autocratic," and scary tendencies were those who would not allow their names to be printed.

We knew someone who very much enjoyed working for Barbara Bush for more than eight years, beginning in the vice president's residence. Our aunt was a volunteer, along with many others, paid and unpaid, who worked for Mr. and Mrs. Bush for a decade and found them to be warm, caring, and appreciative. She was treated like family even though she was only part of the secretarial staff, and though she had to leave her job due to a serious illness, our aunt was still included in the annual staff parties and received lovely notes from Mrs. Bush. When she succumbed to the illness this year, Barbara Bush took time from a hectic schedule of campaigning and of planning her daughter's wedding to write a personal letter of condolence to our family.

Our experience has been of a woman largely different from the one described. She has been represented to us as nothing less than a nice lady. After all, who would volunteer for eight years to work for a tyrant?

JOANNE R. BOBO Fullerton, California LYNNE M. REITER Brea, California

We have all known for years that George Bush is a wimp. What confounds me is that your article assumes that the country is in love with Barbara. Nothing could be further from the truth. At least Nancy Reagan didn't camouflage her bitchiness with a mask of "everyone's mother."

SUSAN ELSON Miami Beach, Florida

Of course Barbara Bush is tougher than Nancy Reagan; that is why she is beloved by her husband and children and many grandchildren. Being a politician's wife (especially a Republican's wife) isn't for sissies. In my view, she's everything any woman should strive to be.

MARTHA SILK Randolph, Massachusetts

Youth and beauty! Youth and beauty! The battle cry of our age. But as my mother used to say, "Pretty is as pretty does." To me, Barbara Bush is a truly pretty woman.

ANDERSON STONE Glendale, California

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Bad old Barbara Bush—how dare she have a strong personality, say what she thinks, be loyal to her family, jealously protect her privacy, and exercise good manners too, in between casting flinty stares with those cruel eyes that are painfully distended from Graves' disease? The next time my mother comments on the condition of my hair or my weight, instead of thinking that she is showing interest or concern or just being her outspoken self, I will know she's being judgmental, domineering, caustic, and sarcastic. An old bitch like that Barbara Bush.

KATHLEEN F. GOODWIN Covington, Virginia

I would much prefer to vote for a man who is in an equal partnership with his wife than for a man who hides behind his wife. Hillary Clinton is a very strong and intelligent woman who supports her husband and still has her own thoughts and voices her opinions.

VANESSA DELANY Sioux City, Iowa

Barbara Bush is the type of role model that young women in this country need. Like Rosalynn Carter, she is a dedicated wife and mother, she's smart, strong, and suave, and she's nobody's fool. I have nothing but respect for and pride in our First Lady. As the saying goes, "Behind every successful man stands a woman."

KATHLEEN HERRINGTON Phoenix, Arizona

School Daze

I have just read "Chris and Benno's Excellent Adventure," by Jesse Kombluth [August], and I think Chris Whittle's media adviser should be congratulated. I have personally never, over such a short period of time, done such a complete turnaround in my opinion of a person. Blessed are those who believe, as Whittle does, in a future for America, and a furtherance of goals through education. May America's social, economic, and educational systems all survive the difficult times we are going through, and identify such men as Benno Schmidt and Chris Whittle as heroes.

CAROLYN NEHORAI London, England

Kornbluth's contention that Benno Schmidt is "an honorable careerist who responded to mid-life twinges of idealism" rings damnably hollow to the Yale community. President Schmidt consistently displayed an aversion to the ethos of idealism during his tenure in New Haven. The president of a university must make it clear that less tangible goals such as reasoned discourse and the advancement of the human mind are more important than bulging coffers and shiny buildings. President Schmidt's reign, with its exaggerated emphasis on physical plant and fund-raising, is the greatest factor in Yale's current malaise. Students and faculty are better off without him. The unfolding of time will prove that Benno Schmidt is nothing more than a cardboard glamour boy for Chris Whittle's latest get-rich-quick scheme.

GREG TANANBAUM Yale Class of '93 New Haven, Connecticut

Jesse Kombluth writes, "Whittle wants parents to pay him to admit their children to his schools and then 'volunteer' their time as teachers' aides so he can make a profit"—as if this were an absurd idea. Aside from the idea of making a profit, it is not as absurd as it might sound. In fact, parochial schools across America employ or encourage the same sort of involvement from parents. In addition to paying yearly tuition, some parents spend time on fund-raisers or even work as aides in the classroom.

If Whittle and Schmidt feel that they can effectively educate kids and get the parents involved and turn a PROFIT-FANTASTIC! They certainly couldn't do a worse job than is currently being done.

SONYA PARKER San Diego, California

The delivery of educational services in America is controlled by a tight, elite, bureaucratic monopoly, the status of which is guaranteed by the government. Because parents and nonparents alike are forced through taxation to pay for an ineffective, inefficient service that a relatively small proportion of the population utilizes, the educrats can continue to dominate the system, entrenching further their own interests, all in the name of doing the best thing for the children.

The only way to improve the delivery of educational services is to introduce a large dose of competition into the system. Although I am personally opposed to vouchers because of their obvious requirement of continued governmental involvement, I believe that private and privatized schools such as those proposed by Whittle are definitely a step in the right direction. We need to adopt a doctrine of separation of education and state for the same reason we insist on the separation of church and state. The alternative is merely the further demise of the intellect of our youth, a process unfortunately coming of age through the rapid decline of all things governmental, especially governmentrun schools.

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SALLY MOORE Cincinnati, Ohio

Painted Lady

I loved Demi Moore on the August cover. I didn't think she could top last August's cover, but she did.

MARLA ALVATHER Fort Wayne, Indiana

Demi Moore naked on your cover once again. This brings to mind Lenny Bruce's remark that some women insist on wearing see-through clothes—and you don't wanna.

DON McLEAN Camden, Maine

Congratulations! You have shown the White House and the Pentagon the right way to do a great cover-up.

FRANKLIN W. Y. LIU Boston, Massachusetts

Demi Moore is a legend in her own mind.

BETSY JAMES Roswell, Georgia

Movie stars create mythology which other members of society study, compare themselves to, measure their own achievements by. In Jennet Conant's "Demi's Body Language,'' Demi Moore suggests that any woman can have it all. A lot of hardworking women believe it and don't know why they feel so inadequate when they come up short. The answer is, they are comparing themselves to something that isn't real. A myth. There are choices to be made. Even Demi Moore must make them, despite her enormous support group. When she works out for three hours a day, takes meetings, etc., she has lost that time with her children. This is a choice she has made. In the end, she has what she wants—she does not have it all.

COLLEEN SURNOW London, England

Demi Moore is a client of ours, and we were distressed and concerned over a number of extreme exaggerations in Jennet Conant's article. To say that Ms. Moore has six assistants is ludicrous on the face of it. She has one, who is well known in the industry. It is unfortunate that your writer would confuse an assistant with hairdressers, makeup artists, and wardrobe aides who are hired by a film studio during production on a film. They are not in Ms. Moore's employ; they are salaried employees of the studio. Ms. Moore also has a nanny for her children, which is essential for anyone who works the long hours that film production requires. Needless to say, the writer's reference to her nanny as "plump" was not only appalling, it was cruel.

We'd also like you and your readers to know that Bruce Willis does not have and has never had "twenty-two" assistants. Unfortunately, your writer's perception of Mr. Willis's career position is equally ill-informed and ludicrous.

Finally, as for Ms. Moore's dyeing her hair blond for The Butcher's Wife without prior notification, this is downright untrue. The look of any actor in a film is carefully designed and discussed among studio executives, producers, and the director weeks prior to production. Ms. Moore would never have taken such a step until she had the complete support and approval of the filmmakers.

PAT KINGSLEY PMK Public Relations Los Angeles, California

JENNET C0NANT REPLIES: l appreciate that Ms. Kingsley is not disputing the fact that Ms. Moore took an entourage of six with her to Deauville on a European press tour. I did indeed explain in the article that the six assistants were, in addition to her own assistant and a nanny, hair, makeup, and wardrobe people, as well as a personal bodyguard. During our taped interview, Ms. Moore explained to me that she has her own assistant and that assistant has a full-time assistant. Ms. Moore went on to say she was planning to hire an additional assistant.

The information concerning Bruce Willis's entourage of 22 on the set of Billy Bathgate came directly from a Disney producer who was familiar with the details of Mr. Willis's contract, and I still have no reason to doubt his word. He told me, "Bruce Willis wanted to do Billy Bathgate, and he asked for his 22 people. "

Letters to the editor should be sent with the Writer's name, address, and daytime phone number to: The Editor, Vanity Fair, 350 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10017. The letters chosen for publication may be edited for length and clarity.