19TH HOLE: THE READERS TAKE OVER

SUNSHINE SHAPE-UP
Sir:
We had the good fortune to catch a glimpse of your swimsuit issue (Feb. 11) during a recent anatomy lecture. We were immediately faced with a conflict: either continue listening to an interesting and important discussion of anatomy or begin studying the swimsuit issue in greater depth. Being true scientists, we made the obvious choice.

WOW! Isn't higher education great!
MARTIN WEHLAGE
DAN WHIPPLE
Class of 1988
Indiana University
School of Medicine
Indianapolis

Sir:
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE YOU TO CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION.
KIM SAMUEL FENNEBRESQUE
New York City

Sir:
Do you guys know if People Express flies to Australia?
PAUL JUELIS
Linden. N.J.

Sir:
Great picture of the seal pups in the Feb. 11 issue!

Keep up the good work.
CHICK LANG, JR.
Baltimore, Md.

Sir:
Thanks so much for another perfect swimsuit issue. Man does not live on college basketball alone.
TOM REYNOLDS
Villanova, Pa.

Sir:
Wow! Wow! Talk about doing a double-take. Your annual bathing suit article was inserted into my Feb. 11 issue twice. Thanks! Thanks!
KEVIN BITTLE
Pottstown, Pa.

Sir:
Your swimsuit issue was great: perfect photography and backgrounds, and all six girls were lovely. This one was nothing like last year's issue, which, in my opinion, was Smut City. Nice job, SI.
RON LEDERMAN
Madison Heights, Mich.

Sir:
My nomination for 1985 Sportswoman of the Year goes to Kathy Ireland—for an outstanding performance in a yellow bikini.
BOB HESSLER
Fairfield, Ohio

Sir:
As a beach sprinter type who has been plagued with a sea of "white sand" this winter. I eagerly awaited your swimsuit issue. Kathy is truly an Irish rose, and Gary Smith's article was a reel lifesaver. In response to your annual wave of critics I can only say, "I want guts, meboys!" And a lifetime subscription.
PHIL PARKER
Jonesboro, Ark.

Sir:
My husband made it through the Buffalo Blizzard of '85. I'm not so sure he can survive your latest swimsuit issue. I work on a cardiac floor in a hospital and I'm afraid if he doesn't stop admiring Paulina, he may be my next patient!
EILEEN FABIANO
Buffalo

Sir:
Last year's rookie, Kathy Ireland, has proved there is no such thing as the sophomore jinx. I can't wait to read the letters the irate librarians write to you this year.
GEORGE E. COLEMAN
Portsmouth, N.H.

Sir:
That's just about it! You've almost gone too far.

Your reference to camel trekking does however lend credibility to this piece of journalism.

Consideration of subscription cancellation will be given after a thorough review of your 1986 swimsuit issue.
J.C. SCHOCH
Lititz, Pa.

Sir:
As a bachelor, I have enjoyed your swimsuit issues for years. I now must object! My fiancée's first encounter with the issue resulted in her choosing $400 worth of suits for our honeymoon.
DONALD STALEY
Brandon, Fla.

Sir:
The swimsuit issue obviously has become a hallowed institution. You must relish the outraged letters of shocked protest and amuse yourselves with a few canceled subscriptions. It is nevertheless sad to see SI, which so often takes the moral high ground, increasingly pander to its readers' lusts with this gratuitous erotica. Do you even think, for example, of the thousands of teenage boys who read your magazine religiously? Would to God you had any interest in preserving their chastity. But the only name of your game is more sales and advertising income. For shame!
DON POUNDSTONE
Portland, Ore.

Sir:
Each year I await the letters responding to your swimsuit issue almost as eagerly as I wait for the issue itself. I have to laugh at the cries of "Pornography!" and "Cancel my subscription!"

Your magazine displays the finest and fittest athletes in the world, and these models are no exception; they should be looked at as inspirations.

As a student attending a school where there is more than a foot of snow on the ground, I can say that these girls have certainly inspired me to work hard, get into shape and count the days until spring break!
DAVID CARNEVALE
Syracuse, N.Y.

Sir:
I just received my Feb. 11 issue of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED with the swimsuit coverage, and I must say that I am somewhat shocked.

In the past I read the responses of some readers after this issue appeared and wondered what they were so upset about. Now I see. This year you have really done it. You might as well have included a wet-T shirt contest. I enjoy your magazine but do not care for this type of smut.
CRAIG N. DARROW
Fort Collins, Colo.

Sir:
The mail carrier handed me your swimsuit issue as I was struggling to disengage my car from the snow for the twentieth time this winter. I was in no mood to compare my winter-weary body with those models.

I do not object to your swimsuit issue, but as a reader of your magazine, I am tired of being the only one in my household to be humiliated in my winter pallor and excess poundage. Please give equal space to some males wearing skimpy suits in the sun so that I, too, may leer and my husband may share my feelings of physical inadequacy.
MARSHA D. RUSSELL
Moravia, N.Y.

Sir:
You have exercised extremely poor judgment, and as a result we will no longer allow your publication in our home.

Please cancel our subscription.
THE KRELINGS
Belmont, Calif.

Sir:
Congratulations on your recent issue! As a former resident of Australia—I was a foreign exchange student in Melbourne for one year—I found that you captured the spirit of the Aussies. One complaint, though: How about a swimsuit issue for us girls? Grant (Ironman) Kenny would be a great model!
KYM WILSON
Cincinnati, Ohio

Sir:
Once again I would like to see SPORTS ILLUSTRATED expose more of women's athletic abilities and less of their bare bottoms.
R. CATHY DANIELS
Clinton, Tenn.

Sir:
We just received your annual "swimsuit spectacular." I threw it in the garbage. That isn't the sport we had in mind when we gave our son a gift subscription to SPORTS ILLUSTRATED!
SUSAN P. JACOBSEN
Palo Alto, Calif.

Sir:
How about a little equal time in your Swimsuit issues? I don't think the female readers of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED consider the 491-pound sumo wrestler on page 36 of the Feb. 11 issue to be equal time.
MOLLIET BROWNE
Worcester, Mass.

Sir:
As always, I was delighted to receive your bathing suit fashion issue and appreciate the public service you perform by reminding your female readers to resume their exercise programs. Since you also have many male readers, may I suggest a similiar issue featuring the Olympic water polo or swimming team modeling the latest in men's swimwear.
ELLEN MYERBERG
Bethesda, Md.

Sir:
Just in case your staff members haven't discovered one of the most obvious facts known to mankind, let me be the first to tell them that black women wear bathing suits!
LARRY E. ALLEN
Charleston, S.C.

Sir:
Once again, my week of anticipation was fulfilled by an almost unbelievable spread of bathing suit beauties. Construction of several miles of breathtaking snow-white beaches caressed by golden sun and turquoise waters begins tomorrow in my backyard. SI has shot its swimsuit issue on beaches all over the world. Why not here, in Connecticut? I don't see how you can turn down my generous offer: I'll provide free sandwiches (turkey, roast beef, anything the staff wants), and I'll even help Jule Campbell carry equipment around and arrange her travel schedule.
BOB NASH
Westport, Conn.

SARAH: TAKE TWO
Sir:
In your Feb. 11 swimsuit issue there are several pictures of each model except Sarah Nursey. Can we see another shot of her?
WAYNE C. FOWLER
GREG NEMEC
Philadelphia

•Jule Campbell, who produced our swimsuit package, tells us that at the time of the shooting, 16-year-old Sarah was attending high school in Sydney, where she'll begin her junior year this spring. Sarah had hoped to visit other locations, but her schedule allowed her to work only one weekend. Here's another look at her.—ED.

PHOTO

BRIAN LANKER

Letters should include the name, address and home telephone number of the writer and be addressed to The Editor, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, N.Y. 10020.