BLOCK OF AGES

A stroll down memory lane; upsetting the president; the full Monroe; media matters; and recalling Whitney Houston

LETTERS

lex Shoumatoff's depiction of worlds that I have inhabited but never really felt part of, from school all the way to West 44th Street, did something to me very deeply ["Positively 44th Street," June], There were so many things I didn't know, and wouldn't even have guessed, about people whom I had known or encountered—writers Bill Patten and George Trow, National Lampoon cofounder Doug Kenney, Shoumatoff him-

self, even the Harvard Club's librarian, Adrienne Fischier, and so many others whom I would list.

But I think what moved me the most was Shoumatoff's observation that so many of the well-born, well-credentialed, accomplished people he mentions were not happy campers. I never got near the Lampoon or the Crimson, had a miserable time at Harvard, and spent much of my life being far too angry and judgmental. For some time—being in a loving marriage, in

a job I love at a place I had never dreamed of working, with my three children all happy—I've realized that my only real ambition is to be a nicer person.

MICHAEL POLLAK Shenorock, New York

I HAVE BEEN A FAN of Alex Shoumatoff's ever since his book Westchester, Portrait of a County was quasi-required reading for honors students at my high school in the mid-1980s. However, there seems to be a stumble in his ode to the pageantry of 44th Street and its social clubs past and present. While there is a tone of condescension and irreverence toward the worlds of upperclass privilege that inhabited those locales, Alex's compulsion to drop not only certain university names but the specific "houses" and dining clubs within them rings a note of Doth Protest Too Much—something underscored when he talks about the world he claims to have "left behind" 30 years ago. The stories are entertaining, but perhaps next time Shoumatoff should dig up some treasure about the upscale-turnedseedy New Rochelle, rather than a block in the center of Manhattan that is immune to changes coming at it from all sides.

PAUL MAZZARULLI Wilton, Connecticut

IN SEARCH OF OBAMA

MANY THANKS for the fine selection on President Obama's dating life in the 1980s from David Maraniss's book ["Becoming Obama," June], Having undergone Columbia's core curriculum myself, I felt immediate familiarity with the diary entries evoking a recently graduated Obama as a tiresome bloviator—eager to proclaim, at times imposingly, his readinglist erudition. Then I began to find the article peculiar. Obama works a day job, expresses enthusiasm for comic books, and tells girlfriend Genevieve about the "perfect ideal woman" of his adolescence. Perhaps he later built Michelle in the Batcave. Slowly it dawned on me that your author has captured one of the dullest love stories ever told. Poor little rich girl—Australian accent, blended privileged families of divorce, stepfather's house in Connecticut, literary magazine—tries to pair off with the right bi-racial corporate up-and-comer, but he turns out to be a power-hungry supercomputer and dumps her.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 47

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 38

LETTERS

Ultimately there is one moment here for the history books: when girlfriend Genevieve tells Obama that she aspired to a schoolteacher's pension, and he shouts at her ("the only time he raised his voice and got really, really upset with me ... went berserk"). There is little more to be said about what autoworkers and educators can expect from this administration.

BENJAMIN LETZLER Munich, Germany

SOMETHING HAD TO GIVE

YOU COME THROUGH once again. I never thought in my wildest dreams that there could be unreleased pictures of Marilyn Monroe out there, but I was pleasantly surprised ["A Splash of Marilyn," by Lawrence Schiller, June], Her beauty was one of a kind, and there will never be another Marilyn Monroe. I am only 30 years old, but my parents always told me about her and how she truly was a trailblazer.

JEFF SWANSON Seattle, Washington

THE IRONY OF MARILYN MONROE is that as time goes by her star becomes ever brighter. Isn't it a shame that we never seem to appreciate what we have or fully understand it until it's gone. The great legacy of Monroe are the stills which speak volumes about just how utterly special she was.

A. J. BUTTACAVOLI Oakland, California

SOAP OPRAH

WHAT JAMES WOLCOTT does not understand is that Oprah is our girlfriend ["Breaking Brand," June], She was the queen of talk, and she still told us how she let her hair get burned because she didn't want to hurt the hairdresser's feelings. We've all learned to open up because she did. So she has a new job and is learning the trade. Relax. The attempt to "out" Oprah on a tweet asking for support is stretching it; we expect that from a girlfriend.

Lay off. And sit tight. She will prevail.

I

AMY LOFTUS

Los Angeles, California

THE OPENING SENTENCE alone of James Wolcott's

column—"It was a day that will

live forever in indignity, even if forever isn't as long as it used to be"—made the entire June 2012 issue worthwhile. In an age when written grunts and faulty punctuation are all but celebrated, I am glad I can count on your magazine to satisfy my taste for pleasurable prose.

VANIA PENHA-LOPES Queens, New York

WHITNEY UNGUARDED

I WAS FILLED WITH SADNESS and anger reading about the last few weeks of Whitney Houston's life ["The Devils in the Diva," by Mark Seal, June], Granted, people with addictions are not always easy to love, but there seemed to be very few people in Houston's life who were not out to further their own agenda or perceived celebrity by using her name, iconic talent, general vulnerability, and personal weakness. What also saddened and angered me is that, 50 years after Marilyn Monroe's death, someone is still trying to do the

same with her name. I hope there comes a time when we can just celebrate the beauty, talent, and life of someone without finding a new way to dredge up their past like some smutty slide show, especially when they are no longer with us to speak for themselves.

NICOLA SARK

Toronto, Ontario

CORRECTIONS: On page 171 of the June issue ("Positively 44th Street"), we misspelled Charlie Scheips's name. On page 46 of the July issue ("Hot Type"), the title of Jim Holt's book was incorrectly given. It is Why Does the World Exist?

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.

to tell us, "Please aim higher, Vanity Fair. I have loved you so."

Guillermo Ordorica (from two big cities, Mexico City and London) thought Alex Shoumatoff's article (on a few short blocks, "Positively 44th Street") was "superb," and Mr. Ordorica had but one (general) complaint about V.F.: he wants "more of the 'Family Feuds' articles."

"Really?" writes Pilar DeMann, from Los Angeles, regarding Chantal Sutherland's Lady Godiva moment ["Filly Cheesecake," by Bo Derek], "I am not a prude. I am not religious. But I think I am over stripping women naked in order to have them receive attention for their achievements." And Lauren George writes from Charlottesville, Virginia, to say that she was "appalled. There isn't any piece of information about Sutherland's skill as an athlete in the article that isn't coded with the message of 'Wow, that pretty little thing can ride horses.'" But Jennifer Karl, of Lebanon, Tennessee, found the photograph "breathtaking. She looks like a goddess." As for C. A. Phillips, of Merriam, Kansas, he writes, "If this is a trend, I look forward to the Tour de France champion." Ouch!

MORE FROM THE V. F. MAILBAG

ot again—she's dead!" Yes, time to look at mail about the Marilyn Monroe cover ["A Splash of Marilyn," by Lawrence Schiller, June], (That particular message comes from Sara Gerardi, of Melbourne, Australia.) "Well, so much for continuing to honor Marilyn Monroe's request, 'Larry, if I do come out of the pool with nothing on, I want your guarantee that when your pictures appear on the covers of magazines Elizabeth Taylor is not anywhere in the same issue,' " writes B. A. S. Evans, of Oxford, Mississippi, before delivering the punch line: "See Elizabeth Taylor on page 30 for Vanity Fair eBooks!" And the Mailbag, of Mailroom, respectfully responds, "See credit on page 20 for said H cover," by photographer Andre de Dienes. Still, Sandy Featherstone, of Cape Vincent, New York, "loved,loved, loved" the piece. In San Francisco, though, Hannah Denmark found herself needing