To the Editor:
Re “John le Carré, 1931-2020: Author of Cold War Thrillers Whose Spies Were Imperfect” (front page, Dec. 14):
John Le Carré is dead. True name: David Cornwell.
We lost a great one. Spy, novelist, moralist. A lot of valuable lessons in his books. He opposed torture and urged honor and restraint. We should have listened. Rest in peace, David.
Michael Barrett
Ashburn, Va.
The writer is a retired assistant general counsel at the C.I.A.
Become Climate Friendly, or Else
To the Editor:
Re “New York State Sends Big Oil a Blunt Message” (Op-Ed, Dec. 10):
Bill McKibben’s article congratulating New York for divesting its pension fund from oil and gas companies unless they come up with a business plan that meets the standards of the Paris climate agreement is hopefully a trend that will ramp up across the states. This kind of action cannot come soon enough.
In addition to switching to renewable energy and creating more jobs, we need to act in the farming sector and move to regenerative farming, which will not only build up soil but also sequester carbon.
These actions are vital to the health of all life. As a grandmother, I think past a few years of profit to the well-being of the next generations. We must “warp speed” climate action toward carbon neutral as fast as possible.
We need the will of the people and the politicians. Now is the time to act.
Carole Mark
Evanston, Ill.