The Issue: How sports commentator Howard Cosell should be portrayed in history and remembered.
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John Podhoretz’s column on Howard Cosell fails to mention a very important fact — the anguish Cosell felt after the Israeli athletes were murdered in Munich in 1972 (“He Was Never a Bore,” Post-Opinion, Nov. 30).
Cosell once told Barbara Walters that no event ever affected him as did that one.
Choose any adjective you want to describe Cosell — pompous, arrogant, etc. — but he always had a humanitarian side.
Joseph Levy
Queens
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As Cosell’s grandson, I am disgusted with how Podhoretz suggests that my grandfather’s final years were sad and lonely, let alone deservedly so.
Howard was ill for many years, which was only compounded with the heartbreak of losing his beloved wife.
This was a very sad time for him and our family. However, he was never alone.
He was not a homicidal murderer, drug-slinging gang leader or bloodthirsty dictator. Howard was a trailblazer, a powerful voice, an undeniable opinion and a brilliant showman.
Above all, he was a warm and loving family man.
Colin Cosell
Astoria
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I appreciated Podhoretz’s punchy article that reviews my new book. But I certainly did not loathe or detest Cosell.
My only “exasperation” is that I couldn’t tell the story of his remarkable life in “only” 500 pages. Writing about his crudities and cruelties is hardly a bias against him.
Cosell was great because of his flaws and tortured inner voices. Cosell broke rules, and his ability to paint a word picture was peerless.
He was, like me, a cynical New York Jew. And, best of all, he gave me a hell of a story to write.
Mark Ribowsky
Plainview