Editor:

Mr. Gambrell, I read your comments and I keep asking "why?" Why did you think it necessary or appropriate to be demeaning to the President? The Nobel Prize is not awarded by Americans but by people with an entirely different viewpoint.

If I were to guess, I think that your motive was frustration that the problems of this country can't be cleared up quickly and with little discomfort for us natives. As a Southerner you must realize that recovering after a disaster is a long, slow, painful process. In the case of my own Gambrell family, it meant the end of an era of prosperity and a long period of rebuilding.

I prefer to think that people in other countries are complimenting us and showing confidence in that we are capable of recovering from the expense of war, an economic downturn and centuries of prejudice.

Why should we denigrate their generosity to the President and to our country? It's not the kind of manners that Gambrells are taught.

Anita Thompson Monroe

(granddaughter of Mae Gambrell Hanks)

Clemson