Dinah Shore

* In response to “TV Pioneer, Entertainer Dinah Shore Dies at 76,” Feb. 25:

The articles about Dinah Shore understandably emphasize her remarkable professional career. She was the best!

It should also be noted, however, that she devoted her skill and prestige to innumerable civic, sporting, charitable and political activities. I was the beneficiary of Dinah’s active support in my 1958 campaign for attorney general and as a result we became good friends. Indeed, I had the pleasure of performing her daughter’s wedding ceremony. Dinah’s loss will be deeply felt; she will be fondly remembered.

JUSTICE STANLEY MOSK

Supreme Court of California, San Francisco

* Stories about the late Dinah Shore have focused on her television career, and most readers will remember her for that. But it is only fair to recall her extraordinary success as a recording artist.

During the era of the Big Bands, and the glory years of the pop singers that flourished after World War II, Dinah Shore was the third biggest selling recording artist. Dinah Shore was, among the girl singers, the only one who had major success as a solo recording artist during the early ‘40s, when the bands were dominating the scene. Although she made some studio recordings with bands, she was never hired as a band singer. She got a job as a radio singer which led to a record contract, and she began appearing on the charts of best-selling records in 1941. She had several hits every year from 1941 through 1952, including No. 1 in 1944 (“I’ll Walk Alone”) and 1948 (“Buttons and Bows”). Her total of 37 hits makes her fourth on the all-time list of pre-rock singers.

ROBERT E. BRADFORD

Dublin, Calif.