Molded by Life’s Experiences

You speak of John McCain's experience at Episcopal High School. My most vivid memory of him at EHS (aside from our many bouts contesting at the same weight class on the wrestling team) was watching him in compulsory study hall clench and unclench his jaw muscles, again and again. That's when his now prominent jowls first began to grow. He also bore a moniker in high school not mentioned in your cover story—"The Gray Fox"—for at 16 McCain's hair was already flecked with gray, long before his ordeal at the Hanoi Hilton.
James G. Simmonds
Charlottesville, Va.

John McCain is just the sort of man we want in the Senate—someone who can forge bipartisan coalitions on different issues, who is usually early and right on an issue; someone who gets angry at pork-barrel spending by appropriators who stuff it into bills surreptitiously, knowing the bills would never pass if the Senate knew about it. I admire a senator who does not suffer fools lightly and gets justifiably angry at corrupt behavior or absurd spending. If only the Senate and the House were filled with such individuals. But do I want someone who has " 'quirky judgment' and [an] unwillingness to change his mind once it's made up" to be president? We've had that for seven years.
Gerry Neiderhiser
Marion, Ind.

Rethinking the Environment
As an environmentalist, I never thought I'd agree with George Will ("The Biofuel Follies," Feb. 11). But here I am lauding him for calling attention to the next environmental catastrophe in the making: biofuels. Will is absolutely correct in pointing out that the destruction of forests in favor of palm-oil plantations releases vast amounts of carbon stored in the vegetation and soil. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, between 25 and 30 percent of human-caused carbon emissions comes from logging the world's forests. Contrary to Will's opinion, drilling for oil in the last undeveloped 5 percent of Alaska's North Slope isn't the solution to the energy crisis either. Renewables such as solar and wind could take us a lot further toward satisfying our energy demands. However, more important than developing new energy sources would be to improve the efficiency of existing technologies. But ultimately, with 6.6 billion people and counting, the only realistic solution for the future is to adapt the human way of life to what the planet can sustain, by localizing our economies and simplifying our lifestyles. Anything else is just a pipe dream—and a dangerous distraction.
Josh Schlossberg
Communications Coordinator
Native Forest Council
Eugene, Ore.

In "The Biofuel Follies," George Will calls for "energetic rethinking" of our nation's energy policy. He lambastes the "planet savers" for promoting production of ethanol from corn, but the rush to corn ethanol comes from the agricultural industry and its influence in Washington, not from environmentalists, who are well aware of the folly. Other biofuels such as biodiesel and ethanol produced from cellulose may be part of the solution to the nation's energy problems. What is Will's solution? Drill in Alaska for more oil and dig in Utah for more coal. Energetic rethinking, indeed.
Gary Lovett
Clinton Corners, N.Y.

Both George Will and FedEx founder Frederick Smith ("A Marine's New Mission," Feb. 11) speak to energy needs, yet neither mentions the great promise of industrial hemp. Hemp was banned by Congress in the late 1930s because of corporate timber and chemical interests. Growing hemp enriches the soil, consumes CO2 and burns so cleanly it doesn't add to emissions. Converted to biofuel, it can move cars and generate electricity with minimal pollution. It was grown during WWII without adverse effects.
Lewis B. Smith
Boise, Idaho

Be Happy, Don ' t Worry?
"Happiness: Enough Already" (Feb. 11) truly expressed much of what I believe and have felt. Within two weeks of the death of my husband, my well-meaning doctor offered me antidepressants. No, thank you. I was grieving, righteously so, for my beloved mate. Within six months my son was labeled a discipline problem and the school psychologist asked me if I had considered medicating my 6-year-old child. He was displaying textbook grieving behaviors for a child his age who had experienced the loss of a parent. No, again, to medicating away normal feelings. Five years later, though we miss Jerry, we are doing fine, having felt our pain and all its power. Life has both sorrow and happiness, just as there is no light without darkness. I'll take it all.
Ruth Petersen Shorer
Berkeley, Calif.