A STAR IS REBORN

Something about Judy; Bill Gates gets grilled; the gospel according to Hitchens; outsiders wanting in; and the filthy rich

You hit the ball out of the park with your article commemorating the 50th anniversary of Judy Garland's Concert at Carnegie Hall ["Over the Rainbow, and Then Some!" by James Kaplan, May], I was given the record of that performance for my 10th birthday, in the summer of 1961, and proceeded to wear the grooves off it. The audible excitement of the audience that night is as much a part of the performance as Judy herself.

BETH GEPHART Dallas, Texas

AS HARD as it is to believe that 50 years have passed, the memory of seeing Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall that amazing Sunday evening could not be more immediate and fresh. Being in the company of so many show-business legends, whose names I scribbled on the back of my program, was absolute heaven for this 18-yearold, starstruck kid. That night was a game changer for Judy and for us.

FRANK DlSTEFANO Long Island City, New York

THE GENIUS AND THE WARRIOR

READING PAUL ALLEN'S excerpt in your magazine, I found it hard to accept that he got screwed out of much, except maybe good taste in sports jackets ["Microsoft's Odd Couple," May], I've worked at Microsoft since 1990. Preceding our 1992 annual company meeting, Bill Gates invited his employees to submit questions, via an advanced form of media called "e-mail." I recalled that Bill had cited Holden Caulfield as one of his heroes in a New York Times interview, so I asked him, "Why is Holden your hero and how would you advise him if he came to Microsoft looking for a job?" In truth, I was seeking counsel. Like Holden, I didn't know where I fit in. Bill answered my question off-line in a thoughtful handwritten note. He wrote, "Holden was a very clever kid who hadn't figured out what he wanted to do. His values were very strong and told him what was Teal' and what was 'fake.' He didn't want to work on 'fake' things I\ no matter what the incentive is."

It is impossible for me to believe that Bill's answer to my question could emanate from a person lacking integrity. Bill's genius to distinguish the "real" from the "fake" is a quality that seems intrinsically related to running his company on his own business terms, even if it means ousting Paul Allen.

MARY MACBAIN YOUNGBLOOD Redmond, Washington

I WAS PARTICULARLY struck by the piece by Paul Allen in your May issue. I have several friends or friends of friends who have known Mr. Allen for decades, and I am familiar with many of his interests and endeavors. I have come to realize that he is not just an idea man but also rather a genius with the courage of a warrior. He has the foresight that will take us to depths, distances, and dimensions where no man has gone before. His undervalued contribution to society is not what he has done in the past to help create a wired world. It is in the boundless vision that he has for the future of mankind.

MONICA M. SOLTES Clarkston, Michigan

THE REALLY GOOD ROOK

IT TAKES A GOOD ATHEIST like Christopher Hitchens to recognize the literary value of the King James version of the Bible ["When the King Saved God," May], But even more than its linguistic significance, there is the importance of the many stories, myths, and legends therein. It is virtually impossible to fully comprehend and appreciate art, music, and literature from over the last millennia without at least a working knowledge of this text.

MASHEY BERNSTEIN Santa Barbara, California

I, A LATTER-DAY SAINT, found Christopher Hitchens's analysis of how agenda-driven translations of the Bible tend to skew the book's core message to be very useful. However, Hitchens never recognizes that, in spite of the weaknesses inherent in any translated work, the message still resonates for those who will hear in the writing its most important moral lessons. Indeed, it is American greed, not the imperfect translations of sacred texts, that most often distracts us from the greatness that could be ours.

MORE FROM THE V. F.

'First it was Justin Bieber. Now it's Rob Lowe with no clothes on," writes Abigail Hemmings, from Tamworth, Staffordshire, U.K. "That's two editions I can't be seen with in public." Ah, but what about in private? "Is it wrong that as a 38-year-old wife and mother I want to rip the cover off the May 2011 issue and hang it on my wall?" wonders Randi Ferris, of Bethel, Connecticut. Jenni Leuzzi, of Dansville, New York, confesses to "incredible feelings of shame, as though I'm being unfaithful to my husband, just looking at this month's cover." And Simone K. Snyder, of Kalamazoo, KW Michigan, gets right down to business: "Please renew my subscription and do feel free to feature Mr. Lowe on additional covers."

Buck Connors, of Beverly Hills, is apparently not a Windsor buff and takes exception to VP's coverage of the royal wedding. His letter isn't written entirely in caps, but here are the parts that are: "NOT RENEW ... DISCRIMINATORY & SHAMEFUL .. . NOT .. . OUTRAGEOUS & DISCRIMINATORY!! ... wwi & WWII .. . WWI .. . WWII .. . WWII .. . P.O.W. .. . P.O.W. .. . TIGERS .. . DONKEYS .. . DONE SUCKING UP."

Cathy Rigby (that Cathy Rigby, and the living person Tina Fey most admires: see May's Proust Questionnaire) has invited Fey to her Peter Pan party: "Come fly with me to NEVERLAND. ... I have plenty of fairy dust, so all you need are a few happy thoughts! (If that doesn't work ... we'll just hook you up to a wire!)"

Finally, Michael Rambo, of Lyons, Illinois, loved Graydon Carter's May Editor's Letter: "You should run for president." That's a nonstarter; Carter, as is well known, was born in Kenya ... no, Canada... anyway, one of those places.

MARK BEESLEY San Diego, California

WE LIVE with our language daily without ever really questioning whence it came. Christopher Hitchens's work pulls into our purview the breadth and influence the King James Bible continues to have on our lives.

RICHARD PARINS Green Bay, Wisconsin

SWEET AND LOWE

I WAS ELATED reading the adaptation from Rob Lowe's new autobiography in V.F. ["Lowe, Actually," May], All of a sudden I was back in ninth grade at my all-girls Catholic school in Los Angeles. That was the year I got to meet the actor on the set of his movie About Last Night. Rob could not have been nicer. He smiled and kindly agreed to pose for a picture. I felt like a million dollars. To top it off, my friend blew up the photo and put it in the back of the 1985 yearbook. At long last, I was "in."

MEREDITH SCHOW San Rafael, California

WHY WOULD YOU feature Rob Lowe on your cover when you had the pick of a dozen genuine Egyptian heroes who arc writing history ["Waking the Lion," by Henry Porter, May]? In so doing, the magazine appealed to our basest emotions, missing an opportunity to lionize the Egyptian heroes and appeal to the intelligence of your readers.

JIM SAVIANO Douglas, Massachusetts

CURSE OF THE RULING CASH?

JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ'S article in your May issue should be required reading for all Americans—if only they'd choose to think so critically ["Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%"]. And the excellent accompanying illustration by Stephen Doyle reminded me of the literacy work championed by the famous Brazilian theorist Paulo Freire in the 1970s—a stark revelation of the chasm between the rich and the poor.

SUE GAMBILL Tallahassee, Florida

Letters to the editor should be sent electronically with the writer's name, address, and daytime phone number to letters@vf.com. All requests for back issues should be sent to subscriptions @vf.com. All other queries should be sent to vfmail@vf.com. The magazine reserves the right to edit submissions, which may be published or otherwise used in any medium. All submissions become the property of Vanity Fair.

THE VF.COM LETTER BOX

News concerning Donald Trump's public finger-pointing foibles has been a source of delight for decades. But in recent weeks, VF.com has become a virtual mud-slinging bacchanalia of the real-estate mogul's making.

"I am so jealous it's not even funny. He would kick your ass in a presidential race," writes Jim Newell, of Washington, D.C., in a letter to VF Daily's Juli Weiner, whose post of April 11 exposed Trump's letter to our editor, Graydon Carter, as a kind of fourth-quarter game plan of furious doodle-speak. A less envious Charlene Wepner, of Bayonne, New Jersey, draws one conclusion from the piece: "None of you at V.F. are good enough to shine Trump's shoes." On the other hand, James Slawosky, of Tigard, Oregon, calls for more coverage of The Donald on our Web site: "Please

I beg of you to put the final nail in the coffin of Donald 'The ShortFingered Vulgarian' Trump," he writes, in a nod to the late Spy magazine, whose editors, including Mr. Carter, had coined the nickname during the glory days of Trump's gaudy excess. Slawosky goes on, "Now that he has shown the world what a liar, cheat, fraud, and terrible comedian he is, I ask of you to use the fine skills of your writers and kick this man while he is down." Not so fast, writes E. S. Garcia, of Newport Beach, California. Her letter to us calls Weiner's chronicling of Trump the work of a "mean girl." But Frank Esposito, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, writes in to say, "Republican voters became a club of silly, stupid, misinformed, victimized, apathetic, hateful, self-absorbed, celebrity-worshipping COWARDS ... and I can prove IT with THIS! Donald Trump is leading in G.O.P. presidential polls... YOU'RE FIRED, suckers!"