Mother Teresa’s Funeral, Beginnings

“Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.” Einstein said these famous words of Mahatma Gandhi when he died, and I think they are the perfect way to describe Mother Teresa. We may have many more Dianas but it will be rare to find a match for Mother Teresa.

Thank you for your excellent coverage of her funeral (Sept. 13) and for the beautiful picture of the boy offering flowers (Sept. 10). I think the media have a double responsibility--not just to print what the public wants to read about but also to print what they should know. That’s the only way we and our children get to know about the countless selfless individuals who minister to the sick and needy but who are not glamorous or newsworthy enough to be stalked by newscasters and paparazzi.

GEETHA GOWDA

Diamond Bar

American generosity played a little known but major role in Mother Teresa’s early work. In 1952 Mother Teresa was feeding children under a banyan tree in the slums of Calcutta with CARE (American) supplied milk and bread.

At the urging of Leila Wilson, wife of the American consul general, the small but active American Women’s Club of Calcutta put on a benefit ball in Mother Teresa’s behalf and raised the then-major sum of $4,000. On the advice of the governor of Bengal, the women’s club used these funds to purchase equipment from the U.S., and arranged for a doctor to screen the children under Mother Teresa’s care who were dying from TB from those who might be saved, with the hope that special efforts might be made to help the latter. Club members also undertook to alert American churches of her needs.

MAE H. ESTERLINE

Claremont