Put the Lead In

Good luck to advertising whiz Hal Riney, who landed the account for General Motors’ Saturn cars (“GM Selects Riney Ad Agency for New Line,” May 25). People like me, long amused by crazy names for cars, laugh our heads off noting that “Saturn” is the ancient alchemist’s name for the metal lead, and the adjective saturnine, derived from the planet’s slow motion relative to other planets, means “slow, sluggish, disagreeable.” Great name for a car going head-to-head against imports.

JOHN H. GARDNER

San Pedro