Editor, the News-Herald:

Thursday, 5/29/2003, was a red-letter day, of sorts, for many of us senior citizens. Bob Hope became 100 years old. This may not mean much to the contemporary generation but we older people remember many hours around the family radio or television being entertained by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. There were many other comics that we liked to hear and watch, such as Milton Berle, Phil Silvers, Jack Benny, Bill Cosby, Nipsy Russell, Flip Wilson, and many others that we remember at times.

The great thing about these entertainers is they had talent and good timing. I can’t remember a single time that any of the old entertainers resorted to vulgarity and filth to cover up a lack of talent. Unlike the current so-called entertainers they had the knack for making us laugh and enjoy a show without being ashamed for our children and guests to hear and see what we were watching. These old timers who gave us so many hours of clean entertainment are mostly gone now. The sad part is that the current generation will never enjoy this kind of entertainment. The current crop of writers, producers and directors only talent is to see who can put out the most vile pictures and dialog. I wonder when The Motion Picture Academy will introduce a category to award Oscars for the most filthy and vile entertainment. There is no shortage of nominees now.

I salute Bob Hope and his contemporaries for providing clean entertainment during their careers.

Macon N. Sanford

Suffolk