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Wedneaday, April 22, 1942 AN OPEN LETTER TO LEW AYRES The newspapers this week have carried a story from Miami which has distressed me deeply because things I said have been misquoted. These are the facts: During an informal dinner in my home at Miami Beach where I spent a few days, you were being discussed and severely criticized. I felt that my guests should know you as I do. It was not my province to judge your philosophy or the road you have taken. 1 said: "Since Lew Ayres is not with us» since this boy is away at camp, I can speak as an individual and not as the head of a company in which he is a star." I told my guests that you were one of the finest men it has ever been my privilege to know, a person of utter sincerity. I explained to them that you had asked your country to send you to the front lines as an ambulance driver no matter how great the risk, that it was your hope to save human lives, that you could not kill. In this connection I told them a fact with which they were not familiar, that you did not eat^ fish or meat or anything that had to be killed. I told them that in all Hollywood there was no more charitable individual, that there was no cause for which you did not give bountifully. I pointed out specifically the splendid work you have been doing for the Red Cross.! told them that you not only made large contributions of money but that day and night, apart froin your studio duties, you had devoted yourself to conducting classes in first aid. Among those present was a Miami newspaperman. He expressed great interest in many of these statements, was delighted to get a true picture of an individual who has been misunderstood. Mirid you, at no time did I discuss or express agreement with the stand you have taken. Frankly, I must confess that I have never understood your position. It is a peculiarity' beyond my personal comprehension. ^Wi^tr yc;ir«ai««?jr»^ a distressing misrepresentation, doubtless unintentional. 1 wanted ^ ou to know. —NICHOLAS M. SCHENCK