The measured Bill Moyers
Measured Moyers
I am a 66-year-old lifelong Republican who always enjoyed listening to Bill Moyers. (“A Thoughtful Voice Amid the Din,” by Neal Gabler, Dec. 13.) With his unique personal style and calming voice he had the ability to discuss both sides of a political issue in a calm measured way that enabled you to understand his point of view and what the real issues were. The shrill, vitriolic ranting of talking heads like Bill O’Reilly or Donna Brazile regardless of party affiliation only serve to polarize every critical issue we face as a nation and leave a scorched earth landscape behind them where no rational discussion can take place in the middle.
Moyers’ explorations over the years into topics centered around who we could be as a nation if we wanted to were often just plain inspirational.
Like Ed Morrow and Walter Cronkite before him, Bill Moyers is a once-in-a-generation broadcaster.
Michael Joyce
Fort Lauderdale
Got it right or too far left?
Your piece on Bill Moyers was more than a fine piece of writing, it was an unapologetic statement of truth. I will miss Moyers’ wisdom, now especially, when it is so direly needed.
Guy Bourrie
Washington, Maine
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It saddens me, in this so-called enlightened age, that Moyers is that lone voice in the wilderness. His is the voice of reason, calling us to explore, investigate, question and to think for ourselves. He never presumes to know the answers, and is almost better at listening, by continually inviting the guest to share his or her story.
The richness of his manner and graciousness include the viewer in the quest for understanding. A teacher’s job is to feed the hungry, and if you aren’t hungrier after visiting with Bill Moyers and his guests, you missed the point.
Beverly Franco
Monterey Park
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The writer of course bashes the right -- he’s doing a biography on Ted Kennedy!
I will counter his assessment of Bill O’Reilly, who is not “right wing,” as he states. Gabler obviously doesn’t watch his program.
O’Reilly is an independent; he accepts gay marriage and believes in global warming.
The reason Moyers is gone is because he’s a raging liberal and no longer appeals to more than 15% of the population. The country is moving right thanks to people like Moyers.
John van Rossem
Irvine
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I am one of those grieving Moyers’ retirement from PBS and am grateful for the way Mr. Gabler was able to encapsulate so much of what makes Moyers special and so different from today’s hollering bloviators.
I especially loved the way he brought out the importance and even moral importance of discussion, of truly being curious about how to reach ethical decisions; this is indeed so foreign to today’s climate in print or TV/cable news.
The interviews with Joseph Campbell are still some of my favorites ever. I do fear we’re at the end of this sort of probative, thoughtful discourse in our society. The focus on loud sound bites and ever-changing attention grabbers, without serious follow-through or even pretense at investigation, will become all there is.
Heartfelt thanks for the beautiful article.
Julie King
Playa del Rey
Not buying Lady Gaga
Regarding Ann Powers’ piece on Lady Gaga ( “The Cultural Critic Lady Gaga,” Dec. 13): I liked her better 20 years ago when she called herself Madonna.
Patrick Cervantes
Eagle Rock
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You folks surely have lost your way. Lady Gaga on the cover of “Arts & Books”? I don’t care a whit about this vacuous blond, no matter how many records she sells.
And I find the photograph quite offensive. It’s ugly, childish and churlish -- as are most of today’s “artists,” most of them sans talent. Their main objective on or off the stage is to shock, not to entertain.
Stephany Yablow
North Hollywood