Dear Marion, 

If this seems terse, it's because I'm preparing for and have
my mind on my legal arguments before the appeals court next
Wednesday.

Don't worry about criticising me. I thrive on criticism. Your
candor is a trait I value very much. I suspect it hasn't made
your life easier, but I'm sympathetic and I think I understand;
I'm not offended and I don't mind.

When you tell me I exaggerate, you hit the nail on the head.
My father frequently voiced his objections to my "extreme opinions,"
my mother-in-law charged me with a proclivity to "tearing up the
floor boards" to find out what's underneath. When I complained to
Carl Johnson, then the Chief of the Eye and Ear Infirmary about 
that institution's mistreatment of poor, helpless "service" patients,
he asked: "Why is it always you, Ernst."

About my alleged disinterest in "the visual arts" you have it backwards.
Find me another ophthalmologist who is proficient in computer aided 
design and has designed and built two 2500 sq ft structures. If 
architecture isn't a "visual art", I don't know what is. Although
I haven't compiled a treatise on esthetics, throughout my Tagebuecher
are scattered short essays on the subject, from my interpretation of
Moses' directive for the brazen serpent as the institution of visual art,
my interpretation of Winkelmann's classicism as protest against the Baroque,
to my explanation of modern abstract art as a social phenomenon, a
technique of communication by which the "appreciative" viewer at one
and the same time asserts her individuality and establishes a social
bond to her companions who profess similar esthetic values. - That's
enough peacock plumage for one letter.

So far as investments are concerned, keep in mind the availability
of Treasury Direct investment, - the opportunity to buy, hold and
sell US Treasury securities directly with the government avoiding
broker's commissions. Many years ago, when the Treasury had an
office in the local Federal Reserve Bank, I used this service a
great deal. Now that such offices have been closed in the process
of privatization (to steer more money to the brokerage firms), I
hesitate to entrust checks for large sums to the U.S. Mail. But
I intend to reexamine my policies. Information about Treasury Direct
is, of course, available on the Internet.

Jochen