Doris Duke

* The strange case of Doris Duke (April 10) and the controversy following her death, including the vilification of her butler Bernard Lafferty, present us with a classic lesson. Henrik Ibsen summed it up best when he wrote, “Money may be the husk of things, but not the kernel. It brings food but not appetite, medicine but not health, acquaintances but not friends, servants but not faithfulness, days of joy but not peace or happiness.” Duke never smiled in her pictures: not when she was 10, not when she was 25, not when she was 70. What a lonely life she led, composed of fear and suspicion.

As for the attacks on Lafferty, it all sounds like people pissed-off that he managed to be the last one sitting on the golden egg. Whether he’s functionally illiterate or not, Lafferty had the fidelity to remain at a difficult woman’s side until the very end, and she rewarded him for his loyalty. In light of his appointments to the board of the Duke foundation, including Elizabeth Taylor and J. Carter Brown, Lafferty appears to be handling the foundation properly and with intelligence that belies the criticism. The jealous remoras should let Lafferty get on with the work of the foundation, and let Duke finally rest in peace.

JOHN LAVITT

Los Angeles