COME FLY WITH ME

Flying high with 60s stewardesses; Fiona Mills stands up for sister Heather; Madonna, after all these years; those feel-good Noel girls; Steven Seagal's shallow Zen; the Moxley case's tangled tragedies; and more

Bruce Handy's article about stewardesses, "Glamour with Altitude" [October], was right on. It was as if he had been there himself. I started working at National Airlines ("Fly me") in 1965, when I was 19 years old. Girdle checks, ha! I was almost not hired because the head of stewardesses said I was slightly bowlegged. And what glamour! I had Cary Grant on a flight from London to Los Angeles in first class on a 747. He actually put wooden shoe trees in his shoes when he took them off during the flight.

You cannot imagine what it was like to walk through any airport terminal and have everyone stare at you because you were a stewardess. I am still flying, having progressed through Pan Am and Delta Airlines, but I now wear a uniform that makes me look like a bank teller. Not only that—I am now expected to disarm a terrorist hijacker with my bare hands. This is not what a "stewardess" is supposed to be doing.

EILEEN FITZGIBBONS Orlando, Florida

I FLEW FOR American Airlines from 1963 to 1968 and they were five of the best years of my life. I had been flying only six weeks when I was called for a White House press charter to Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. President Kennedy was flying there to be with Jackie, who unfortunately had just lost their baby. We boarded Air Force One, were given gold PT 109 pins, and got to meet the president. It was quite a thrill for a 20-yearold girl from Zanesville, Ohio! On top of that, I strapped in my future husband, singer A1 Martino, and it was "love at first flight"! We've been living in Beverly Hills very happily for 34 years.

JUDI STILWELL MARTINO Beverly Hills, California

I WOULD IMAGINE Mr. Handy believes he was reporting objectively on the evolution of the role of the flight attendant and illustrating, among other things, the "protofeminism" that then emerged. In fact, his article reads as if it were written by that same little boy who was so titillated by Coffee, Tea or Me?

My mother and her identical twin were flight attendants for TWA in the 1940s and into the 1950s. Attractive? They were flawless beauties. But they were also strictly reared, decent, and intelligent ladies.

Like some of the flight attendants Mr. Handy describes, they flew special charters, including those delivering servicemen to war. I don't think it was quite the opportunity for flirtation that Mr. Handy might believe, however. Not long ago my mother and I went through some of the scrapbooks she had saved. A publicity photo shows my mother and my aunt, wearing leather bomber jackets over their elegantly tailored TWA uniforms, standing by a small plane and talking to a group of four or five boys in uniform. My mother ran her finger over the photo and said, "It was always so sad to be on flights with those boys, because we knew so many of them would never come back." She knew what she was talking about: one of her two brothers was killed in the Battle of the Bulge. I'm positive my mother and aunt were nice to those boys not because they wanted to "catch" a husband but rather because they hoped that the last American women with whom their brother had interacted were nice to him.

Thus, to hear my mother and aunt described as "bait" and "corporate geishas" insults me beyond my powers to describe. I hope for both his and my sakes that Mr. Handy's and my paths never cross. If they do, he'll be walking funny for a week.

DENA R. EDWARDS Houston, Texas

ON THE ANNIVERSARY of my fellow American Airlines flight attendants' murders, I found it profoundly inappropriate to run an article portraying the shallow and frivolous history of my predecessors.

At one time I might have read Mr. Handy's article with amusement, and might even have felt a pang of envy to have missed out on such a glamorous lifestyle by a mere generation. Ultimately, however, I am embarrassed by the pre-feminist-movement indignities endured by these women. As much as stewardesses were admired and envied for their beauty and charm, their value was diminished to that of Barbie dolls available for easy male amusement. It seems as if Mr. Handy would like to see this stereotype of trick-turning "stews" perpetuated, rather than uphold modern-day flight attendants for what they are—brave, resilient individuals who place themselves in the line of fire every day. The fear of butt pinching and girdle checks has been replaced by a very genuine fear of death at the hands of terrorists.

WHITNEY CLAIRE HEDMAN New York, New York

FROM THE LATE 1950s to the late 1970s, I was on an airplane between 1,200 and 1,500 times, flying to at least 100 cities, foreign and domestic. The stewardesses not only were uniformly young, single, slim, and attractive, they were excellent at their job, they enjoyed their job, and they cared for their passengers. Not something found too often in the years since.

Pacific Southwest Airlines was known for its wonderful gals with the hot-pants uniform. I flew that airline 400 times, I knew many of the girls well, and they said they were not "bothered" by the passengers any more than they would have been in any job. They enjoyed the attention. I would say I saw passengers "bothered" by the gals as often as the other way around.

JIM HUMBERD La Quinta, California

PARADISE REIMAGINED

I READ PHILIP PULLMAN'S "His Dark Materials" trilogy when it first came out in the U.K., waiting desperately after I finished each book for the next to be published ["Oxford's Rebel Angel," by Christopher Hitchens, October]. I confess to being a devoted Tolkien reader and found Pullman's novels the first to inspire me as much as The Lord of the Rings did 30 years ago. However, I have never been able to quantify my feelings about the work satisfactorily, nor to analyze the source of its amazing potency. Your clear and incisive article has enabled me to do just that and to appreciate what motivates this truly gifted writer. You have made me understand why this is a work of literature which will endure.

AMANDA LONGWORTH Somerset, England

ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO, an unknown woman in a bookstore noticed me looking at the display of Harry Potter books. "Have you read Philip Pullman?" she asked. She raved about The Amber Spyglass. "You won't be able to put it down." She was right. I was forever hooked. While I enjoyed Harry Potter, Pullman made me think and challenged me to ponder my world.

KARYN-SIOBHAN ROBINSON Washington, D.C.

THE PLEASURE I TOOK in Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass dimmed somewhat when I read Christopher Hitchens's dismissal of the work of Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and others in the genre. Their work has stood a test of time and readership that Pullman's work has yet to withstand. The Golden Compass is a stimulating book, full of stirring and thought-provoking images. But it strains for its effects at times and never moved me as powerfully as The Lord of the Rings has done. I pity Hitchens's children if their father's opinions spoil their own first encounters with these authors.

PATRICIA BAUER Deephaven, Minnesota

I WAS HARD PRESSED to find a constructive purpose for the God-wrecking preaching of Christopher Hitchens and especially Philip Pullman, who distorted the story of creation in Genesis, making it "as subversive as I could make it," so that possibly thousands of children will grow up believing a lie both about the Bible and about "daemons." Demons by any other spelling are still demons. In biblical accounts, they possessed and afflicted human beings in terrible ways, but somehow in Pullman's world they are lovable children's playmates.

T. PAIGE DALPORTO Charlton Heights, West Virginia

I AM A CHRISTIAN. I am also an avid reader of the Harry Potter books and Philip Pullman's trilogy. As a matter of fact, I first stumbled across The Golden Compass in the library of a Catholic university. I don't need to believe in wizards or deny the existence of God in order to enjoy first-rate fiction, just as I don't have to agree with Hitchens on all matters in order to appreciate his superb wit and prose.

HOLLY WATSON Houston, Texas

THE MAKING OF LADY McCARTNEY

IT WAS WITH GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT and anger that I read Leslie Bennetts's article on my sister Heather Mills ["Heather Mills's Private Crusade," October].

Having spent much time and effort arranging the interview and providing Ms. Bennetts with names and numbers of friends and colleagues to interview, I feel my time was wasted and I was obviously misinformed about Bennetts as a journalist.

Bennetts did no more than reiterate tabloid rubbish, ignore facts, misquote friends, and make assumptions on issues she knows nothing about. It seems there was no point in doing the interview, as Bennetts obviously decided beforehand to misrepresent Heather and portray her as a steely, self-promoting, name-dropping liar. It saddens me that Bennetts was not able to write a true and balanced article on someone who I know is a generous, thoughtful, and loving person.

Journalists have the privileged abililty to reach the public, and after the tragic events of September 11, it's a shame they have not learned to use this advantage to help and inform people, rather than to spread malicious gossip.

FIONA MILLS London, England

ONCE AGAIN THE PEERLESS Paul McCartney has married a woman who shares his humane, peaceful worldview. He and his late wife did more to advance the causes of animal welfare and ethical vegetarianism than any other celebrities on the planet. Heather Mills's admirable endeavors to provide artificial limbs for amputees and disability victims is commendable. McCartney should be lauded for attracting quality women who enrich his life and ultimately benefit the world's human and animal inhabitants.

BRIEN COMERFORD Glenview, Illinois

BY REISSUING HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY with details about her relationship with Paul McCartney, Heather Mills seems to be exploiting her new last name. Only time will tell if McCartney has really found his new life partner.

JEANNE M. MADISON Banning, California

CONTRARY TO A SOURCE'S suggestion in your article, Paul McCartney's children were not raised as ultra-privileged rich kids. From all reports, they are stable, reasonable people who were raised with a lot of love. Given Heather Mills's insecurities and need for control, evidenced by Paul's removing the ring Linda gave to him, I'm sure she wants no reminder of Linda around, including Paul and Linda's children.

PATRICIA J. OLSON West Bend, Wisconsin

IF INDEED HEATHER MILLS asserted that she is giving Paul McCartney "the best sex of his life," then she's being disrespectful to Linda McCartney. Does she remember that her husband was famously happily married to Linda for close to 30 years?

LINDA MALA BELOSEVIC Gaithersburg, Maryland

LIKE A ROCKEFELLER

WHAT A CONTRAST you presented in this issue with the shallow, poorly written segment of Heather Mills's autobiography juxtaposed against the eloquent, insightful excerpts of David Rockefeller's memoirs ["To Be a Rockefeller," October]. On the one hand, you presented a woman who appears to write, speak, and behave like a teenager. On the other, you introduced a man with an incredible depth of character, observation, and experience.

SUZI SOSA Austin, Texas

AS AN ORDINARY, lifelong resident of Maine, I have had the amazing good fortune to be one of those many people whose lives have been enriched because of their association with David Rockefeller. My father was employed by David and Peggy Rockefeller for 30 years. As a child I visited New York City with my family, and each time was given the royal treatment, with after-hours personal tours of MoMA and Riverside Church, and limo rides in between. I even remember lurching and bumping down the steps in front of Kykuit in a golf cart with David's son Richard.

Thank you for printing the excerpt from Memoirs, by one of the most gentle, unassuming, warm, and brilliant gentlemen alive. My father passed away in August, and at his memorial service David Rockefeller was one of the speakers. As always, he refused to describe Dad as a longtime employee, but simply called him a friend of the family.

AMY BRYANT SMITH Northeast Harbor, Maine

THE MEANING OF MADONNA

STEVEN DALY wrote a great article on Madonna ["Madonna Marlene," October]. I've been a fan of hers since 1983, when I was 13 years old. At the time, I lived in Wisconsin and I was just figuring out that I was gay. Being a teenager is difficult enough; being a gay teenager is near impossible.

My Madonna fascination served as my alternative to having friends. She made me believe that someday I would be able to get myself out of Wisconsin, just the way she got out of Michigan, and hopefully find a place to live where it's O.K. to be gay. I stuck with her during the good times ("Like a Virgin," "Like a Prayer"), the bad times (the Sex book), and the even worse times (Body of Evidence).

DAVID CINEALIS London, England

MADONNA IS OUT of her 44-year-old mind if she thinks she's capable of evoking Dietrich. Madonna is now as passe as they come.

DAVID A. POWERS New York, New York

WITH "MADONNA MARLENE," I was left with a wonderful glimpse of a woman still transforming and growing in new directions. Craig McDean's photographs of her a la Dietrich were spot-on and sexy as hell. Madonna doesn't have to worry about competing with 18-year-olds. This woman can show the kiddies a thing or two about being an icon.

MICHAEL EPPS New York, New York

I WOULD LIKE to remind Madonna that the "council estates" that she feels blight the London skyline are inhabited by thousands of her fans who have helped her become the multimillion-dollar recording star she is today.

J. J. CARUTH Santa Monica, California

THE GIRLS FROM BRAZIL

I MAY NOT BE an heiress to a fortune, but I like to think of myself as a socialite in my own right and, as such, I aspire to raise a family in the same manner that Monica Noel did ["Golden in Greenwich," by Kristina Stewart, October], What a success story! In a world in which parents are vulnerable to one child (if not more) taking the wrong path, Monica has clearly made herself an example to all mothers—wealthy or not.

C. M. WAGNER Pacific Palisades, California

THE WORLD IS BECOMING far more chaotic, poverty is consuming millions of lives, and terrorism makes us question a bright future for humanity. Fear not, though, for we have the five perfect Noel sisters, pristine siblings with polyester smiles and equally perfect children, all living a privileged lifestyle. I am a more complete person for having had the opportunity to read about these magical creatures.

WILLIAM NOLAN East Harwich, Massachusetts

STEVEN SEAGALS LOST ZEN

I KNEW STEVEN SEAGAL in 1979-80, when he was still Steven See-gul ["Seagal Under Siege," by Ned Zeman, October]. I studied aikido under him at the Ten Shin dojo in Osaka, Japan. He was the sensei. While I think much of what he has become is surely "poppycock," as Seagal might put it, I can testify that he is indeed the martialarts expert that he says he is. More than 20 years later I can still feel his power and intensity.

Even then, however, he worked pretty hard at making himself a man of mystery. I have cringed over the years watching his ego and self-driven mystique grow as his career turned into a sad joke. He had been magnificent. But the spirituality which is at the core of aikido has ironically become his vessel for shallowness. That, and some poor wardrobe choices.

BILL BAKSI Houston, Texas

SPLENDOR IN THE GLASS

MY DAILY WALK to work takes me exactly past the Lever House on Park Avenue ["Forever Modern," by Matt Tyrnauer, October]. For the past three years I have watched the building's complete transformation in what has sometimes seemed like slow motion. I have often wondered what it was about its history and design that promoted such a proud and public renovation. That the building, which always seemed to me like a movie set with its cool, sea-green serenity, open plaza, and mid-century modern design elements, has a background as innovative as one could imagine makes it appreciated and enjoyed all the more.

JULIE O'BRIEN New York, New York

DUNNE CROSS-EXAMINED

MY NAME IS MARY BAKER, better known as "the tutor's ex-wife," and I have written this letter to probe why Dominick Dunne could possibly feel that he has the right to judge my reasons for participating in the Martha Moxley murder investigation ["The Rich and the Damned," July]. Mr. Dunne wrote, "In court, Mary Baker gave some cockamamy excuse for why she had participated." Mr. Dunne asserts that I "helped [the police] obtain a sham confession from [Skakel tutor Ken] Littleton" and that defense attorney Mickey Sherman was doing a very good job of confusing the issue. As there was no sham confession obtained, I hope that Mr. Dunne's musings in print are judged accordingly by Vanity Fair readers.

I respect the right of anyone to loathe me, as Mr. Dunne says he does, but I do not respect his decision to judge my personal reasons for doing as I did. I believe that every individual effort put into the investigation of Martha Moxley's murder contributed in some way to the guilty verdict found against Michael Skakel. I could have refused to appear in the Norwalk courtroom, and Mickey Sherman might be talking to this day about the supposed guilt of Ken Littleton.

Ken Littleton has had a good life recently thanks to his success in A.A., and his manic-depressive disorder is under control through his prescription-drug regime. In my opinion, Mr. Dunne demonstrated blatant unfairness when he could not contain himself on Larry King Live and mentioned Ken as "a drunk and a drugger." As neither label was true of Ken on May 20, 2002,1 can see no imaginable value in reminding the nation of his past problems yet again.

MARY A. BAKER Ottawa, Ontario

DOMINICK DUNNE REPLIES.I am bewildered by Mary Baker's letter. The fact is that she did participate in a scam in a HowardJohnson's motel room outside Boston, which she knew had been bugged by police, to get her husband to confess to a murder he had not committed. She tried to convince him that he had confessed to her that he had committed the murder in a drunken black-out. The fact that no such confession was obtained does not mean that one was not sought. She was the major participant in the scam. Through the years, I have consistently been on the side of Ken Littleton, believing him to have been shafted by the Skakel family. His Williams College classmates recently thanked me for my efforts on his behalf, as did his lawyer during the trial.

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