Editorial Staff, ONE:

Your May issue, in my opinion, is particularly

fine and thought-provoking.

The art work, as usual, is beautiful stimulating..

and

I would especially like to commend Arthur Krell on his article "We Need A Great Literature". We do indeed. We are bloodless and have no direction because of this lack. That we must make one is apparent. How to go about this is something else again. Krell helps immensely: he points in worthy directions.

I, myself, do not believe really great books about what contributions homosexuals can make to society and how homosexuals can transcend their barriers to become finer people CAN or WILL be written by any except those who have succeeded in integrating themselves and are contributing in a vital way to society.

This is a call to homosexual (male and female) professional and non-professional workers to write-and tell us how they transcended their environments and psychological barriers to make useful and stable citizens out of themselves. What were their ideals-goalsaspirations? How did they get them? How did they hang onto them?

In the meantime, successful homosexuals lacking tongues, the neurotic homosexual will write.

And his writing is important, too-even if it does only tell us what the bricks are made of that comprise his prison-or what life is like in that prison.

But Krell has helped and I want him to know that I thank him from the bottom of my heart.

The Editors:

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. f

Congratulations to ONE and to Lyn Pedersen for "England and the Vices of Sodom" in the May issue . . . an excellent job of reporting which could stand as an outline for a more extensive study.

I regret that Arthur B. Krell's feature essay, "We Need a Great Literature" was not tempered with the same objectivity and restraint that characterized Mr. Pedersen's article. Mr. Krell's enthusiasm is compelling, but his grasp of the relation of art to life and of the nature of literature is limited.

Literature is a direct function of living and although a particular work may share or exploit elements that characterize a social phenomenon, the writer is not a political leader, nor is it his function to provide models for behaviour. Mr. Krell is operating in the realm of political ideals and social psychology, as indeed was Plato. However, it is only fair to point out that Plato's ideal when rendered a social reality is a reality very much out of key with our democratic heritage.

one

It is a big wide world-much wider than those who are shocked by the "scandal" of homosexuality think and wider, I suspect, that Mr. Krell thinks when he states, "No worthy society would ever accept the sickly irresponsibles who live the schizoid life of promiscuity." Mr. Krell suffers from the besetting sin of idealists, intolerance. Does he actually think that a society which accepted "binary" homosexual relationships and rejected promiscuity and effeminacy would be better than the one we now enjoy? Promiscuity and effeminacy as well as "the love of two strong and loyal men", are ways of coping with the problem of man vs. the world. Who is to say which is the best.

I am also moved by the pathetic letter from New York City. If your correspondent's position is so perilous as to be endangered by "making (the jargon) available to scoffers," he is naive to expect respect where pity is due. We all have our strength and weakness and we all have our defenses. Please let us not be intolerant of those of others.

Dear Sirs:

LOS ANGELES, CALIF.

I wish to state the article "God and the Homosexual" which appeared in the June issue of "One" was beyond a doubt, the finest 1 have ever read regarding the subject.

Unless a person has gone through such a soul-wrecking experience, it would be difficult to grasp the full significance of the article. Believe me, I have, and to this day have not been able to overcome it.

Dear Sirs:

COLUMBUS, OHIO m

Please be kind enough to sincerely thank Arthur B. Krell for his straightforward article in May's issue of ONE.

It may be that I have been feeling a little depressed of late, maybe because I am one man in a thousand trying to fight the battle of near isolation by accepting and donning the garments of our society, whatever it may be; this article has certainly given me view.

Thanks also, to Lyn Pedersen for his splendid historical report. And, you, Mr. Freeman, for your salute to Curtis White.

I know that you folks in the literary field often wonder if the tho'ts that are portrayed thru the medium of your articles are honestly appreciated by your reading public; believe me, we in the field are very happy to know that there are men and women like you who are capable of such broadmindedness as to render this much needed lift.

Thank you, Sir.

WHITTIER, CALIF.