Letters to the Editor | Oct. 14, 2025

If the United Nations really wants to secure the future and safety of the Palestinians, why hasn’t anyone considered moving the U.N. headquarters to Gaza?

Lew Hertzog, Royersford

In 1978, the Phillies were in the midst of a season in which they won their third straight National League East title and suffered a postseason series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. I wrote a piece back then in The Inquirer Opinion pages about my son, Joey, who at the time was 18 months old, and my fear that his growing attachment to the Phillie Phanatic would be the portal to lifelong heartbreak, such as I had endured as a Phillies fan who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s.

As we fast-forward to Oct. 9, and the painful conclusion of another season — on that same field in Chavez Ravine where another one-run defeat ended our hopes in 1978 — we older fans added another chapter of sorrow to our book of life with the Phillies.

As we watched Orion Kerkering fumble the roller to the mound and then throw wildly over J.T. Realmuto’s head as the game-winning run crossed the plate, my mind didn’t dwell on the hardship of another early departure from the postseason.

I thought, instead, of Kerkering’s Major League debut in September 2023, when he entered a game against the New York Mets and struck out two hitters in his first appearance as a Phillie. The essence of my memory of that night was how the television broadcast captured a glimpse of his father in the stands, tears streaming down his face, weeping with pride in a moment far more memorable than the error we saw last week.

My son and I still enjoy rooting for the Phillies and will endure through the wins and losses of future seasons. My hope is that Kerkering is able to look back at that night two years ago when he brought his father to tears, a joyful time for a parent and his son. Joni Mitchell once sang, “I really don’t know life at all.” This may be true. But it’s also true that we must savor those occasions where life is most precious, however fleeting they may be.

Peter Schmidt, Phillipsburg, pdrkschmidt@gmail.com

The bombs have stopped falling on Gaza — what a huge relief. The smoldering wreckage of starvation still burns for now. It can only be “put out” with massive amounts of humanitarian aid through effective distribution systems. Our senators, Dave McCormick and John Fetterman, should do their utmost to be sure this administration insists on unrestricted humanitarian aid to Gazans, for the U.S. government to refund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency to reinforce effective distribution of the aid, and restore the funding of the U.S. Agency for International Development to make sure the U.S. supports the aid for the months and years ahead.

David Elder, Kennett Square

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