Essay on Losing Was a Winner

Re “Facing Up to the Ultimate Taboo -- Failure,” Commentary, Feb. 10: Thank you, William Ecenbarger! He expresses my mantra to my children, and now my grandchildren, “But did you have fun? There is always going to be a winner and a loser, so you had better get used to being on the losing side some of the time.” I felt like a voice crying in the wilderness as others were telling them that winning is everything.

I appreciate Pat Conroy for his book “My Losing Season,” in which his love of playing basketball, win or lose, was the message. It is as important to learn to lose gracefully as it is to win gracefully, remembering how a loss feels. The important thing is to keep playing, or keep trying; if it is worth doing in the first place it is worth pursuing whether it is a sport or some other aspiration.

Jean B. Rogers

Mission Viejo

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Ecenbarger’s column on losing was thoughtful and moving and I pray to the gods of irony that it helps him win another Pulitzer Prize.

James Harless

Mission Viejo

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I don’t think Ecenbarger needs to worry. The loser cult is thriving, as judged by the popularity of lotteries and casinos.

Ehrhardt Lang

Lompoc