‘Fifi Oscard, 85, Longtime Agent for Writers, Actors’

Jackson Beck may have intoned the famous opening of television’s “Superman,” but he didn’t utter: “Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird. It’s a plane.” It was Beck, presumably, who declared: “Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound!”

But the remarks about birds and planes that followed were, in fact, said by different people – two men and a woman, as I recall – staring up into space, debating what they’d just seen, until the third declared, “It’s Superman!” [“Fifi Oscard, 85, Longtime Agent for Writers, Actors,” Stephen Miller, Obituary, November 16, 2005].

Beck then returned to say, yes, it was Superman, “strange visitor from another planet with powers far beyond those of mortal men, who could change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands, and who (disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper), fought a never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way.”

DAVID MARGOLICK
Manhattan

‘Frieden To Focus On Diabetes’

Jill Gardiner, in her article on the city’s commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene, Dr. Thomas Frieden, omits a number of quite negative actions he has taken [“Frieden To Focus On Diabetes, HIV – And What Else?” New York, November 14, 2005].

He shut down the Community Health Partnership, a grouping of more than 300 grassroots organizations that had been laboriously built, with support from the Department of Health, in the years before he took over. And he has shut down all access to community health data, aside from the limited information that the department chooses to put on its own Web site.

Again, previous leaders of the department had freely made available community-level data so local leaders and community organizations could assess the health needs in their community and take corrective action.

New York City, a city of neighborhoods, is ill-served by such leadership.

LEONARD RODBERG
Queens College
Flushing, N.Y.
Mr. Rodberg is an associate professor and chairman of the Urban Studies Department at Queens College of the City University of New York. He also directs the Infoshare Community Information Service, which seeks to provide a wide range of community data to the city’s residents.

‘American Illusion’

Other than agreeing with us that private accounts do not solve Social Security’s long-term shortfall, Robert J. Samuelson’s commentary on AARP misses the point(s) [“American Illusion,” Opinion, November 16, 2005].

At AARP, we are embarked on a program of positive social change, not delay. We are working hard to make America better for all generations. That’s why we developed “Reimagining America: AARP’s Blueprint for the Future.” Please read it and judge for yourself (www.aarp.org/issues/reimagin ing_america.html).

The vision we offer is based on realities. Older people today are generally in better health, disability is declining, and many are staying in the workforce longer. These realities are due, in large part, to the success of such entitlement programs as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and others.

The question really ought to be: Can we afford not to sustain the monumental contributions these programs have made to the health and well-being of America’s aging population and their families?

Our mission at AARP is to improve the quality of life for all as we age, so our job is to do something about the problems. If that makes us a “dangerous lobby,” then so be it.

LOIS ARONSTEIN
Director AARP
New York State
Manhattan

‘Assailant May Be Deported’

Your article regarding the illegal immigrant who, like the millions of other illegal immigrants, is breaking our laws and should be deported, carries the distinct tone of “woe is her” [“Arrested for an Assault, Woman May End Up Facing Deportation,” Daniela Gerson, New York, November 21, 2005].

I don’t disagree with that tone, but she should have thought of that before she and the father of her children broke our laws.

Illegal immigration first of all should be prevented, and if that’s not the case, properly applied so that deportations do occur if that is the proper penalty.

DEBRA SILVER
Manhattan

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