LIANE HANSEN, host:
Time now for your letters. We received quite a bit of response after airing producer Sasha Aslanian's piece last week about the effects of divorce on children.
Margaret Carey of Montrose, Colorado left this comment on NPR.org: It is not the fact of divorce that hurts the children, it is the manner in which the parents behave afterward. Having practiced family law for a very long time now, I can tell you that while all children feel the effect of a divorce, parents who cooperate and refuse to put the children in the middle have children that are generally indistinguishable from other children.
Trina Grayburn(ph) of Portland, Oregon wrote: Because there's been so much failure in marriages and families, we need to have classes, counseling for kids on family life, how it should look, how to make it happen right, and classes on marriage before people jump blindly and passionately into marriage.
Last week, we also broadcast a report about how difficult it is to enforce on bans on cell phone use while driving. Tom Booker of Manassas, Virginia had this suggestion: Rather than using the bludgeon of criminal laws, why not try to scalpel of civil enforcement? In countries where consuming alcohol is forbidden, for example, automobile insurance policies are written in such a way as to deny coverage for alcohol-fueled accidents, leaving the driver personally liable for damage. Why not do the same with respect to mobile phones? The states could require as a condition of licensing that insurance companies exclude coverage for at-fault accidents when the driver is found to have been on the phone.
Finally, last week's story on the 90th anniversary of the famous Los Angeles restaurant Musso and Frank's Grille inspired Marilyn Carpenter of Spokane, Washington to share her memories of the eatery. My parents loved Musso's and we ate there often as I was growing up in the 1940s and '50s. My best memories are of the maitre d, Hans. He always greeted me as if I was a very important customer. Sometimes he would scoop me up and take me to a table where a movie star was sitting. One that I remember was Rhonda Fleming with her gorgeous red hair - she even kissed me. Thirty years later I returned with a friend and found the waiter who had always cared for us. He even remembered my dad.
We want to hear from you. To reach us, go to NPR.org and click on Contact Us. You can also join the discussion in the comments section of every story. We're on Facebook as well, Facebook.com/NPRWeekend. And you can send a tweet to us at NPRWeekend - all one word. I'm at NPRLiane - all one word - and Liane is spelled L-I-A-N-E.