To the Editor:
Re “Dr. Bob Knows Age’s Toll. He Looks in the Mirror: At 75, He’s Wondering if Biden and Trump Can Say the Same” (front page, April 10), about Dr. Bob Ross, who cares for the residents of Ortonville, Minn.:
Like Dr. Bob, I’m an aging, but still active, physician. I’m older: 83, pushing 84. I fully agree that at 83 I wouldn’t be fit to lead this country. Of course, I also wouldn’t have been fit at 73, 63, 53 or 43.
Some qualities are lost with age, some are gained with age, and some are just intrinsic irrespective of age. When I look at the two candidates, I know the qualities that are important for the role, and age is not the one that will determine my vote.
Sydney Z. Spiesel
New Haven, Conn.
The writer is a clinical professor of pediatrics at the Yale University School of Medicine.
To the Editor:
A beautiful story about an aging doctor who is a marvelous man. One can’t help but admire his dedication, especially as he begins to slow down. Indeed, an uplifting personal story that stands on its own, untainted by the political chaos that drags us down.
Unfortunately, many readers, like me, may also feel confused and sidetracked by the article’s beside-the-point subheadline about President Biden’s and Donald Trump’s age — a political hook that didn’t work.
That also raises a question: Why does The New York Times continue its relentless fixation on the age of our presidential candidates? Maybe it’s time to start singing a different song — and take more politics-free moments to just plain honor the many Dr. Bobs in our world.
Jerome T. Murphy
Cambridge, Mass.
The writer is a retired Harvard professor and dean who taught courses on leadership.
To the Editor:
I want to express admiration for Dr. Bob Ross’s service to his community and perseverance in sustaining his caring practice. However, I regret the focus of this article on a singular lens by addressing aging as a disabling process.
With age we also have the opportunity to grow and to acquire the compassion and wisdom that emerge from life experience and the knowledge that alone we cannot accomplish the best outcomes.
Those come with learning how to collaborate with insightful people of all ages who contribute to vision and outcomes, and listening to multiple voices and perspectives.
It is ironic that the youngest of the candidates running as a third choice for president is consumed with anti-science mythology antithetical to all that Dr. Ross stands for in his profession.
Frances Wills
Ossining, N.Y.
To the Editor:
It’s refreshing to read an article about aging that treats it as the natural order of things rather than a pathology. Still, America is the land of eternal youth. We don’t like to think that, even when healthy, we eventually wear out and go threadbare like the furniture.
Now in my 70s, every time I have reached a benchmark age like 50, 60 or 70, I hear three things: 1) It’s the new equivalent of the decade before, as in 50 is the new 40; 2) a 90-year-old recently finished an Ironman/swam the English Channel/crossed the Sahara on her bike; and 3) I am as young as I feel. Oh, dear.
After decades of assessment in our achievement-oriented society, are we now to be graded on how well we grow old? Let us hope we have earned the freedom to dodge that exam, accept the physical infirmities of age, and be glad for the wisdom and the perspective we have had the time and good fortune to gain en route.
Margaret McGirr
Greenwich, Conn.
Trump’s Snooze in Court
To the Editor:
Re “First Criminal Trial of a Former President Begins” (front page, April 16):
All other aspects aside about the start of Donald Trump’s criminal trial, can you imagine what huge hue and cry would resound if it were Joe Biden — not Mr. Trump — who appeared to fall asleep in his chair in the courtroom on Day 1?
Pundits would roar. The earth would shake. And votes would move.
Mimi Reimel
Langhorne, Pa.
Trump and Black Female Prosecutors
To the Editor:
Re “Stormy Daniels Is Ready to Testify,” by Jessica Bennett (Opinion, April 15):
With jury selection beginning in the Trump hush-money trial, I read and reread Ms. Bennett’s excellent article about women versus Donald Trump and came to the conclusion that it’s not only women who have taken over Mr. Trump’s head, but Black women in particular.
Letitia James and Fani Willis are especially agitating to Mr. Trump, not only because they are Black and female (and bright), but because they could be significant contributors to verdicts against Mr. Trump.
While the civil fraud case in New York might result in substantial financial damages against Mr. Trump, if not reversed on appeal, the Georgia racketeering case, overseen by Ms. Willis, could actually send him to jail, if he is convicted. I suspect that in his mind, being found guilty because of the efforts of Black women is the worst.
The coming weeks and months will offer the American people the most fascinating look at our judicial system we’ve ever witnessed. I will be watching how Mr. Trump reacts in court to any woman who challenges him, but beyond the usual “witch hunt” references, I am eager to hear what he says on the courthouse steps and in his posts about Ms. James and Ms. Willis.
It would be wonderful to see him pay up and be put away for many years.
Jon Hunt
Old Greenwich, Conn.
Free Speech Limits at Berkeley
To the Editor:
Re “Protest at Dean’s Home Becomes a Free Speech Dispute” (news article, April 13):
The effort by some Berkeley law students to transform a private dinner to which they had been invited by the law school dean, Erwin Chemerinsky, into some sort of anti-Israel rally shows that they have a good deal to learn about appropriate adult behavior. And about the First Amendment, which, notwithstanding their professed reliance on it, does not protect a guest who brings a microphone into a private home and uses it despite the request of the owner, let alone in a manner that disrupts the event.
It is sadly ironic that such misbehavior occurred in the home of Mr. Chemerinsky, one of our nation’s greatest defenders of the First Amendment.
Floyd Abrams
New York
The writer is the author of “The Soul of the First Amendment.”
Trying to Close the Gun Show Loophole
To the Editor:
Re “A.T.F. Rule Seeks End to Loophole in Firearm Sales” (front page, April 12):
The director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Steven M. Dettelbach, and President Biden should be applauded for attempting to close the gun show loophole, which allows gun traffickers to evade background checks.
Newly released A.T.F. data reveals that our national gun violence epidemic is traceable to a deadly mixture of illegal gun sales and an Iron Pipeline that allows guns to flow from states with less regulation to states with more regulation. Preventing traffickers from obtaining guns is an important step that will save lives.
Alan Kennedy
Williamsburg, Va.
The writer is an assistant teaching professor of public policy at William & Mary whose dissertation was on gun policy.