Editor's note: Some of the letters below originally appeared in "The Fray," Slate's reader feedback forum.

Who's Deliriously Mean-Spirited?

Your review of my book Diana in Search of Herself was so confusing that I scarcely know how to respond (see the Sept. 2 "Culturebox" posting). Your writer asserts in the first sentence that it was "deliriously mean-spirited"--a surprising statement, given that reviewers for Time, Newsweek, and the Washington Post among others have remarked on the even-handedness of my book. In fact, Judith Shulevitz is herself "deliriously mean-spirited," and I resent the fact that she relies on material from my book in an effort to make her arguments.

Your writer assesses the book in only one other place, noting that Diana suffered "from what Smith dubiously diagnoses as a borderline personality disorder." The review promptly lists seven psychological problems that plagued Diana, all of which are common in those afflicted with borderline personality disorder. For the record, I used the term as a framework for understanding Diana--in particular how its symptoms interacted to produce the chaotic behavior that so many close to her witnessed over the years. I emphasized that while I couldn't say with certainty that Diana had the disorder, the evidence (as presented throughout the previous 363 pages) was compelling. As it happens, a number of psychiatrists have approached me since the book's publication to say that Diana was a classic borderline.

I suppose that I should be flattered that the three meatiest paragraphs (of five) in the review were drawn entirely from my biography. But as someone who read a vast amount of what had been written about Diana, conducted 150 interviews (many with her intimates), and included 60 pages of detailed footnotes, I find it dismaying that Slate would run such a disingenuous review.

--Sally Bedell Smith

Sucking Up to the Boss

"The Slate 60" always makes for interesting reading; whether or not it really gets anyone to give (besides maybe Bill Gates) is open to question, but I'm sure it can't hurt. At least it's better than trying to rank colleges.

I have a question about that $225 million gift that heads the list, though. As far as I can see, the gift was made by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, not the Gateses themselves. Obviously, most (all?) of the foundation's assets have come from the Gateses, and I don't want to diminish the generosity of surrendering $17 billion for the public good. But strictly speaking, there doesn't seem to be any other foundation on The Slate 60 list, nor are Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, or the very living Walter Annenberg listed. (In truth, I don't know how much the Annenberg Foundation gave away last quarter, but let's pro-rate its annual giving and guess that it was around $25 million, based on 1998's figures. Here is the summary if you want to look it up.)

In fact, if I understand the rules, a $17 billion foundation will have to give away roughly $170 million per quarter and, in today's market and economy, ought to have considerably more than that to spend, even after hedging against inflation. Aside from the occasional Ted Turner bombshell, the Gateses seem to have just about guaranteed themselves the top slot on The Slate 60 for the rest of their lives, even if they never give another nickel away.