Travels in Time With Jerry Hulse

If ever there was a poster image of the age of travel innocence, the photo of Jerry Hulse is it (“Jerry Hulse, 77; Times Travel Editor,” obituary, Jan. 26). Was it just American travel innocence? I think so. We could buy a ticket, get on an airplane and just go someplace. The principal complaint was the food, as if airlines, no matter what the advertisements said, could ever be three-star restaurants. Our travel was limited by income, not fear of terrorists. The innocence was lost after the first hijacking and the advent of metal detectors.

I’ve never flown on any aircraft--private or commercial or glider--that at the moment the craft is airborne I have not considered a miracle, no matter what the engineers and physicists can prove. It’s part of the travel package that Mr. Hulse conveyed. That we would arrive safely at our destination was practically a given. His obituary reminds me of the passing from carefree travel to the travel we know today.

Lee Bartkowski

Long Beach