10 JANUARY 1964, Page 16

REPORTING AMERICA

SIR,—Mr. Jeffrey Blyth decries Lady Jean Campbell's reporting from Dallas on the grounds that 'few (if any) of the theories she advanced survived investiga- tion.'

My answer is threefold : 1. After the assassination of President Ken- nedy, the theories voiced in Dallas, true or false, were news, worthy of inquiry and report.

2. The Federal Commission investigating the circumstances of the assassination apparently does not find the matter quite as cut and dried as Mr. Blyth suggests. Their investigation, covet- ing all the points raised by Lady Jean Campbell and many others as well, is now expected to last much longer than originally forecast.

3. Lady Jean Campbell's work in Dallas was outstandingly good because it described so vividly the atmosphere of 'Big D' at that time. Mr. Blyth must be a very smug reporter indeed not to envy some of the facts she discovered— for instance the quote from Tom Howard, Ruby's lawyer, 'Ma'am, I have indeed seen Lee Oswald. I saw him five bitty seconds before he was shot.'• 47 Shoe Lane, London. EC4

CHARLES WINTOUR

Editor, Evening Standard