To the Editor:
Re “Apples, Cows and ‘Pantsdrunk’” (news article, Jan. 1):
Repeating a myth does not make it a “striking or delightful” fact, not even when we so desperately need amusing diversions to get us through the pandemic doldrums.
The idea that Abraham Lincoln, a teetotaler, would stop by a New York saloon to fortify himself with a beer before his make-or-break 1860 appearance at Cooper Union is just absurd.
He once confessed that alcohol made him feel “flabby,” and he abstained for most of his adult life and even delivered a pre-presidential temperance address.
Lincoln has endured some brutal reputational revisionism in 2020, much of it undeserved. To add bar-hopping to his résumé is beyond the (p)ale.
Harold Holzer
Rye, N.Y.
The writer is the author of “Lincoln at Cooper Union.”
A Different Life for Seniors
To the Editor:
Re “Covid-19 Is Taking My Last Years,” by Toby Levy (Op-Ed, Jan. 4), reflects a concern among many seniors.
At 76 with some risk factors for Covid, I was at first angry about the “loss” of a year of concerts, museums, dancing and so on. During sessions in a meditation group and on my own, I came to the realization that I had not lost a year but had lived a different year.
This different year opened up Zoom meetings with friends and even trivia games. It opened up lectures that I might not have attended. As a doctor, I even did some telemedicine sessions with patients and was also a telemedicine patient myself.
Living life differently on Zoom is a relatively small sacrifice, but for some it is still a loss.
Ike Koziol
Sarasota, Fla.
To the Editor:
Re “A Union Will Make Google Better,” by Parul Koul and Chewy Shaw (Op-Ed, Jan. 5):
Workers at Google and other Alphabet companies have started the Alphabet Workers Union, in partnership with the Communications Workers of America. This is a breakthrough. It includes all workers. It follows union victories at Kickstarter and Glitch. This is Labor 2.0.
Unions are for everyone, in every field. That’s why the labor movement is working to organize Big Tech and fighting for a fair and equitable future of work, in every sector. The A.F.L.-C.I.O. is even starting a technology institute, to leverage innovation for the labor movement, because the benefits of technology should create prosperity and security for everyone, not just the wealthy and powerful.
Challenging corporate power alone is a vulnerable place to be, but together with their union, workers can be a check on that power. Their faith in the right to organize is inspiring.
Liz Shuler
Washington
The writer is secretary-treasurer of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.
A Last Resort for Single Mothers?
To the Editor:
Re “Threadbare Lives and Naked Risks” (Business, Jan. 14):
I find it horrific that there are some young women who, to make ends meet and support their families, have to resort to selling nude pictures of themselves on OnlyFans.
It is very difficult to be a single parent, regardless of how that situation came about, to both raise a small child and work. If they do work they will have to pay a babysitter almost as much as they earn.
Instead, the United States must work at getting a program like other countries where such women and children are taken care of. And what about the men involved?
Carol Delaney
Providence, R.I.