To the Editor:
I had a fine time reading your article on the folk song festivals of the '50s and after. Although I knew nothing about them at the time, I can judge their quality by the fact that I had heard almost all of the people mentioned out in the "real world" and that the festivals had a remarkably high proportion of all the best folk singers of the time.
It was, however, the last page that set me in motion. When I saw the picture of Susan Reed in 1948, I walked down the street and gave the article to her. She was delighted. Susan has lived in Nyack for quite a long time, keeps an attractive shop that carries all sorts of things, and produces paintings and collages that combine a distinctive character of their own with strong folk art qualities. And, needless to say, she sings. Her voice is still fine, she has an Irish harp like the one in the picture (and other instruments, too), and her repertory is bigger than ever. My family and I have heard her often and were particularly grateful when, a few months ago, Susan closed a memorial meeting for my wife by singing "Turn, Turn, Turn," which, as she said, is Ecclesiastes via Pete Seeger.
William Diebold '37
Nyack, N.Y.
To the Editor:
I have just received the March issue, and I feel compelled to point out that the players pictured in the photo at the bottom of page 21 were not just members of "an informal jug band." Rather, they were part of the We Work It In Jug Band, and the photo is from the group's Bond concert of 1964. The banjo player is Roger Shatzkin '67, and the guitar player in the funny hat is none other than my father, Bennett Lorber '64 (yes, the same one to whom the College gave an honorary doctorate last June). My mother, Carol Finneburgh Lorber '63, is also in the photo: Her face is partially hidden behind my father's left hand; next to her is my father's roommate, Jeff Heynen '64. Finally, I would be remiss if I failed to mention the presence of my grandmother Ovilla Lorber, who today is alive and well and living in Emmaus, Pa.; she can be seen peering over the shoulder of the white-shirted man in the front row.
Sam Lorber '89
Allston, Mass.
To the Editor:
In his letter published in the March 1997 issue, Sifford Pearre suggests that "drugs" (by which he undoubtedly means currently illegal drugs) be made available by prescription at low financial and high social cost.
This may seem a commonsense solution to the "drug problem," but it is actually only another manifestation of the same set of prejudices that underlie America's pointless war on drugs.
In suggesting that people who use drugs ought to be deprived of the opportunity to occupy positions "involving public safety or high-level decision making," Pearre is overlooking the substantial numbers of accountants on alcohol, lawyers on Librium, doctors on Dalmane, and professors on Prozac.
He is forgetting that the distinctions by which the use of certain drugs is subject to sanction and others not are almost entirely irrational, determined much more by racism and xenophobia and Puritan antipathy toward pleasure than by any reasonable concerns.
Surely people who use psychoactive drugs of any legal status ought to endeavor to prevent them from hampering their performance on the job, behind the wheel, and in their relationships. The thrust of Pearre's suggestion is that people who use illegal drugs cannot be trusted to do so, while people who use legal drugs can. There is no basis for such a belief. It is purely a matter of prejudice.
Indeed, I count as a major part of my Swarthmore education my learning to use drugs more or less responsibly&emdash;discovering, sometimes the hard way, that a hit of LSD is wonderful for understanding Keats' negative capability but of little help in writing that insight down, that smoking a joint makes sensuous delights more so but makes a good lecture unintelligible, that amphetamines make all-nighters possible but social relationships lousy, that, in short, certain states of consciousness&emdash;including being sober&emdash;are beneficial (sometimes spectacularly so) in some contexts and harmful in others.
Neither do I think that such learning is available only at an elite liberal arts college. It is probably just as easy to teach children about the uses and liabilities of drugs as it is to terrorize them with DARE programs. But that is not going to happen so long as people think that it would be reasonable to withhold a driver's license (and with it the ability to make a living, at least in this country) simply on the basis of someone's choice of drugs, and without any regard for the intelligence with which he or she uses them.
Gary Greenberg '79
Scotland, Conn.
To the Editor:
On page 34 of the March Bulletin, you published several photos of unidentified students&emdash;and one sailor (as if a sailor could not be a student). I am strongly of the opinion that the guy on the bicycle in front of Parrish is myself, but I can't read the titles of the books in the basket to be sure.
The young woman pictured on the step is very familiar-looking, but without checking over the class pictures, I cannot come up with a name.
Bob Bartle '47
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Editor's note: Jane Plummer Leimbach '45 telephoned our offices to let us know that "the young woman posing so coyly against the wall" is Connie Porter Mercer '45. But Leimbach believes that the man on the bicycle is Frank Johnson '44. Can anyone help sort this out?
Photo: Is it Bob Bartle '47 or Frank Johnson '44?
In Suzanne Braman McClenahan's ['52] "Dear Friends," (March 1997) the quotes around the following phrase were accidentally deleted: "The past is another country and they do do things differently there." The phrase is from L.P. Hartley's The Go-Between, although the emphases&emdash;which were also deleted&emdash;are McClenahan's.
Writing to the Bulletin
The Bulletinwelcomes letters concerning the contents of the magazine or issues relating to the College. All letters must be signed and may be edited for clarity and space. Address your letters to: Editor, Swarthmore College Bulletin, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore PA 19081-1397, or send by e-mail to bulletin@swarthmore.edu.
Swarthmore College. All rights reserved. 1997