To the Editor:
Re “The Last Act of the Trump Drama: Rage, Denial and Retribution” (White House Memo, front page, Dec. 6):
The last stages of the Trump presidency do resemble a Shakespearean tragedy. Shakespeare’s plays depict characters fraught with anger, ambition and revenge.
But Shakespeare’s heroes, unlike Donald Trump, understand the consequences of their actions and are remorseful in the end.
Ellie Berner
Kittery, Maine
The Promise of ‘Leaf Town’ for Children
To the Editor:
Re “Lessons From the World of ‘Leaf Town,’” by Beth Rooney and Kathleen Rooney (Sunday Review, Dec. 6):
The real message from Leaf Town, a structure composed of fallen leaves built by imaginative young children, is that children have immense creative ability. This pandemic has been disastrous for them, especially for children living in poverty or other difficult circumstances.
But it also has been a moment in which we can see the vast scope of what has been taken away from childhood learning through a top-down system of education that does not serve all children.
The amount of understanding, cooperation and imagination it took to create Leaf Town is amazing only to those who do not usually work with young children. If President-elect Joe Biden wants to “Build Back Better,” he can start with rethinking education.
Jo Ann Joseph
Glen Ridge, N.J.
The writer is a retired preschool teacher and education supervisor.
To the Editor:
Didn’t everybody used to make leaf towns? We sure did. They were a regular feature of our 1970s midtown Memphis neighborhood.
Once when the big kids knocked down our forts too many times, we planned a neighborhood-wide water balloon fight to settle the matter. To make it fair, we said once you were hit by two balloons, you were out.
After two days of stockpiling balloons in our forts, the fight was on! Right away the big boys drew heavy fire and were eliminated.
Late in the day, both sides ran low on ammunition, but we had a 9-year-old with a magical ability to tie together scraps of exploded balloons to make new ones! Thanks to Heather, we won!
Parents who want children to learn how to solve problems, create fairness and make their own fun should consider relaxing the obsession with fall leaf removal and see what children can do with this free and abundant material.
Let children do the raking later!
Jane Conrad
Maplewood, N.J.