CHER THE LOVE

LETTERS

The diva next door; Hitchens; royalty; broken art; and new perspectives

I was Cher’s private, in-home chef from 1978 through 1981. I was delighted to read Krista Smith’s in-depth and oh-soaccurate portrayal of her personality and vibrant spirit [“Forever Cher,” December], Smith nailed it when she wrote of Cher’s no-nonsense forthrightness and honesty. And I just loved all the memories it brought back. Cher was dynamite, even as a young girl, and it’s no wonder she became a star. The article shows her great, down-to-earth sense of humor. (I remember her singing “Going to the Chapel” when Deb, her assistant of 34 years, got married in Laurel Canyon.) It is great to see this icon displayed in all her natural glory.

MARCIA STONE Venice, California

AS SOMEONE WHO ATTENDED the same school as Cher—Montclair Prep, in Van Nuys, California—and as a fellow ArmcnianAmerican, I was excited to see your December cover. Reading the article, I learned that Cher and I also share a number of political views. However, we paid company regarding the televangelist Joel Osteen, who, Cher says, has “only got kind things to say.” Is it kind to say that homosexuality is a sin, as Osteen publicly has? Of course it isn’t. Osteen and his church aren’t likely to roll out the welcome mat for Cher’s son Chaz. And that’s a shame.

DAVID TULANIAN Los Angeles, California

BEDSIDE MANNERS

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS is quite right to call for an etiquette guide for dealing with cancer patients, as he does in your December issue [“Miss Manners and the Big C”]. On the one hand, cancer patients are out of the closet. On the other, the cancer patient should probably be the one who brings up the topic. There were times during my last treatment when I wanted to forget I had the disease, but well-meaning people felt compelled to broach the subject.

CAROLINE HAMILTON Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

A COURTLY AFFAIR

I UNDERSTAND THAT DRINKING, sex, and sports are a big part of the social life at college, but I also remember it as being a time when I was introduced to a wonderful array of cultural activities. As I was reading about the royal couple in your magazine [“Wills and the Real Girl,” by Katie Nicholl, December], it seemed somewhat odd that Prince William and his circle did not attend concerts, plays, the ballet, the cinema, or even jazz clubs. I hope that this impression is wrong.

LAUREN GOLDEN Encinitas, California

I SO ENJOYED reading about Prince William and his fiancee in Vanity Fair. Even though I am an American who doesn’t believe in titles and abhors the class structure of Britain, to be British is to be a step up from the rest of the world. And so be it.

JUDYTH ROBERTS Boise, Idaho

IN THE FAME OF THE FATHER

I COMMEND Michael Shnayerson for his article on the artist Larry Rivers [“Crimes of the Art?,” December], which left me very shocked. I find it hard to accept that people are still protecting child-pornographers. And it is especially distressing that in this case Rivers’s daughter Emma Rivers Tamburlini, who was obviously traumatized by her father’s “work of art,” is being attacked by her own siblings. Their comments in the article clearly show that they consider their father’s reputation and, above all, the value of his work as far more important than any understanding of their sister’s suffering. Genius like Rivers’s is no justification for such actions, which leave behind tortured and damaged souls.

RUTH SOBOL Ramat Efal, Israel

LESSONS LEARNED

GRAYDON CARTER’S LETTER in the December issue [“Man Up, America!”] delivered a smack upside the head and called a halt to the little pity party I was suffering. Thank you for refreshing my perspective on how blessed my life is—and for recommending some interesting-sounding books.

ANNE DERUITER East Lyme, Connecticut

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MORE FROM THE V. F. MAILRAG

'Your new smaller typeface sucks!” begins a letter that, unsurprisingly, has emerged from the printer at Mailbag HQ sporting a rather large (and, if you ask us, garish) typeface. But in Chickamauga, Georgia, font issues were the least of Marie Campbell’s problems: she “tore off the plastic wrap to read the December issue from cover to cover,” but, instead of a magazine inside, there was just “a stack of unbound pages.” In other words, a collector’s item.

You didn’t throw it away, did you?

Regarding Barbara Wal ters’s “Her Change of Heart,” Jane August, of Rochester, New York, writes, “She stated that she was glad she had received a bovine valve because a pig valve would not be kosher. Not so. The laws of kashruth deal with what one ingests. A pig valve is not being eaten.” Ellen Levine, of Morton Grove, Illinois, agrees: “Jewish law is very clear on the subject. Please let your Jewish readers know this, should they need a pig valve.”

Cher-mania! “Thank God for Cher” (Victoria Block, Melrose, Massachusetts); “The best cover you ever had” (Sally Retzloff, San Antonio, Texas); ‘Cher Is Back’? She never left us” (Sheila Quinn, Cape Coral, Florida); and, from Charlene Doran, in Seaside, California, “I am an admirer of Cher’s, and use her as a benchmark in my life. However, my gut tells me that the brown Tuny’ jacket she wears on page 218 is monkey fur. Please tell me I’m wrong.”

“Do you notice how dark it is in the morning?” writes Bruce Joffe, from Piedmont, California. Yes, and, like small typeface, it sucks.