Scared of sex
From Mr Michael Harrington Sir: In his fine and interesting review of a new book about Joe McCarthy (Books, 6 May), Anthony Howard implies that J. Edgar Hoover was a homosexual. This is one of those rumours that have acquired the status of a proven fact, though there is not a shred of hard evidence to support it. In fact there is no evidence that Hoover ever engaged in any kind of sexual activity. I suspect that he was a lifelong virgin, frightened by sex and unhealthily interested in other people's sex lives. This may account for his excessive hostility to the Kennedys and Martin Luther King.
On the subject of McCarthy himself, it is interesting that the senator is often blamed for the actions of the House Committee on Un-American Activities in prosecuting the so-called 'Hollywood Ten' and others in the postwar years. In fact, McCarthy was not even in Congress at that time and was never a member of the House of Represen- tatives. It goes to show that, if a man's name has been blackened enough, people feel free to make any allegation without bothering to check.
Michael Harrington
Totnes, Devon
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