The Sept. 7 letter by Diane Maass (Bear: Killing just isn't right) certainly hit a responsive note for me. Ms. Maass of Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., wrote at length about the bear shooting episode in Boundary County.

Upon reading her letter, I thought immediately of a character in a novel (Bleak House) by Charles Dickens. The character, a Mrs. Jellyby, focused her every waking moment on the plight of the Borrioboola-Gha tribe who lived thousands of miles away in Africa. At the same time, she was oblivious to the chaotic condition of her own family. Dickens termed such a practice "telescopic philanthropy."

If memory serves, the news reports of the Labor Day weekend detailed some 60-plus shootings of HUMANS in the New York area.

The thought thus occurs: Why does Ms. Maass not work to protect the HUMANS in her own neck of the woods instead of worrying about a bear shooting in North Idaho? Just a suggestion.

MARK M. GREENE

Athol