Sad for RadioShack; religious tolerance and strife; justice for Oswald’s family

Sad for RadioShack

The demise of RadioShack is indeed sad for the many employees and stakeholders who grew the company to national prominence.

After Charles Tandy rescued the company from near-extinction in 1963, he inspired a culture of entrepreneurship to grow people and stores to great heights.

We became a distribution system for leading-edge technology and support centers for all consumer electronics.

We had the distribution system to exploit the CB radio craze of the mid-’70s, to pioneer personal computers (the TRS-80), to have early digital stereo receivers, early cordless telephones, early cellphones, the first laptop computer (the Model 100), the first Windows computer and the predecessor of the Palm, to name a few.

We supported vacuum tubes, 8-track tapes and phonographs long past their prime.

Our store personnel were a great resource for customers. Many grew up the management ladder and achieved financial success. The management team worked with integrity, dedication and a sharp focus on results.

Fort Worth benefited as well, with a peak of 8,000 jobs in Tarrant County. Non-profits benefited from more than $3 million in annual contributions in the ’90s.

Many people built a great company. We’re sad to see it go.

— John V. Roach, Chairman and CEO, Tandy/Radio Shack from 1983 until 1999

Religious tolerance and strife

Freedom of religion is one of the most important freedoms that we are given.

That it is a freedom equally given to all religions is of the utmost importance, but yet is one of the most denied (“Faiths require trust, understanding,” Feb. 3)

I am impressed with the long list of signers of this letter.

I am profoundly disappointed that I did not see a Roman Catholic’s name on the list.

— Luan Ibarra, Fort Worth

The writers seem to think that the antidote for right-wing religious bigotry is delusional left-wing naïveté. They tell us Islam means peace; it means submission to God.

They are right that we should treat people of other religions with tolerance and respect, but that lesson needs to be learned by Muslims more than anyone else.

And while it’s true that most Muslims are peaceful, it is also true that most religious strife and violence in the world involves Islam. It’s hard to find religious violence that doesn’t involve Muslims.

According to polls, 78 percent of British Muslims thought that the Danish cartoonists should be prosecuted for insulting Islam, and 90 percent of Egyptians support the death penalty for apostasy.

Let’s quit pretending all religions are like that.

Western society has a conundrum: How do we treat Muslims here with respect without being overwhelmed by those radicals who are a significant part of some Muslim populations?

— Tom Glenn, Fort Worth

Justice for Oswald’s family

I am pleased that Robert Oswald, the brother of accused presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, was awarded damages from a Fort Worth funeral home which sold Oswald’s allegedly decaying casket after the body was exhumed in 1981.

A district judge declared it “wrongful and wanton and malicious conduct” for the funeral home to conceal the coffin’s existence and place it for an auction that was later lated.

Robert Oswald was recently awarded the exact amount that a buyer had offered to pay, $87,468. The funeral home also had to pay $10,771 in storage fees and other associated expenses.

Although I vehemently condemn the assassination of President Kennedy, Oswald’s corpse and coffin deserved a measure of proper handling.

It is clear that Robert Oswald bought the casket in 1963 and the coffin belonged to nobody else except his family.

Robert Oswald is no villain, but a grieving family member who has rights, too.

— James A. Marples,

Longview

This story was originally published February 6, 2015 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Sad for RadioShack; religious tolerance and strife; justice for Oswald’s family."