Life Interrupted

Thank you to Annalisa Quinn for her engaging article on Frank Smith and the insight into life for longtime-incarcerated men (“The Man Who Went Away,” July 9). The disconnect from the “real” world is almost impossible to imagine. The seemingly endless days and years of no real relationships sounds like hell. She certainly conveyed the emptiness of it all. Leaves a lump in the pit of my stomach. That will pass, of course, but these people, my God, this is their so-called life. Quinn has given readers some powerful things to think about.

Charlotte Herderson

Washington, Maine

The prison sentences in this country are ridiculously too long. If you look at Canada, you just don’t [often] see people getting life without parole. I think everybody in this country should get the possibility of parole unless they kill a child, or are a serial killer or a mass shooter. Manny Fortuna

Braintree

Something near the end of the piece unsettled me: The writer was ready to sympathize with a man the State of Connecticut had strong reason to believe committed the cold-blooded murder of another man who had “never hurt a soul.” Yet, when Quinn found out he was a bigot, she says she “felt my sympathy turn off like a tap.” Really? Misguided bigotry trumps murder? Yes, Mr. Smith says he didn’t commit murder. He also told you he didn’t write the letter to his sister you held in your hand. Otherwise, an excellent piece that balanced empathy and sensitivity with a reporter’s hard eye and skepticism. Stephen Mulloney West Roxbury

I found this the most disturbing: “Mystifyingly, there were no records at all between 1976 and 2012, when Smith should have come up for parole every few years.” Over 35 years with no record of him being eligible for a hearing for parole? This is justice?

foodieluv posted on bostonglobe.com

The authorities got to close the case, George Lowden got his plea deal, taxpayers got to pay for 80 years of incarceration, and Smith got any chance of redemption stolen from him. Would he have ever redeemed himself ? We will never know.

Effrontery posted on bostonglobe.com

Living With Loss

I am touched by Bonnie MacDonald’s tribute to her husband, Rob, and how she commemorated his life with their two daughters (Connections, July 9). He sounds like a wonderful man. I lost my husband when my daughter was 6 years old. He was an avid golfer so I used to take her to play mini-golf on Father’s Day to celebrate him.

Kathy Feeney Thomas

Riverside, Rhode Island

What a very nice piece. It wasn’t saccharine; just true. I’ve had quite a few students who have had similar trauma. We do a pretty solid personal essay unit and it is always a delicate walk introducing pieces dealing with family death. I don’t think such pieces should be avoided because death of any kind is simply part of the human experience we have to face eventually.

Ken Lundberg

Needham

MacDonald invites us to walk beside her on the day she lost Rob. I am so very sorry for her loss, and I am so confident Rob would be awed by the life she’s led, true to the blueprint they’d dreamed up together.

Joanne Greer Miller

Marblehead

How she has carried on with her memories and positivity brought tears of joy.

Mary O’Connor Boston

This essay, torn from the back page of my Globe Magazine, now occupies a prominent spot on my kitchen bulletin board. Thank you to Bonnie MacDonald for this tender reminder of the joys of living, the sadness of death, and the importance of both honoring the past and celebrating the future. Tricia Doherty

Medford

Grief Support

[To Miss Conduct letter writer] Anonymous/Cambridge: Your friend is still processing the loss of his parents, compounded by a battle with his sibling over their will, and, perhaps, a feeling of guilt that his newfound riches came as the result of his parents’ deaths, so please understand that it might take some time for him to be able to move on with his life (“Mired in the Past,” July 9) . . . . This man’s recent experience has changed his life forever, and he may fear that his new life situation could alter the nature of his relationships with everyone, with you and your husband. jesnana posted on bostonglobe.com

Thanks, Miss Conduct, for a great answer. I can relate, because I am still in the middle of something like this: being the main person managing my dad’s care before he died, managing my mom’s developing dementia now, dealing with house issues I am totally unqualified to deal with. . . I do feel like I’m always in crisis mode lately, and it’s hard to just have fun, normal conversations with others and forget about it. So this is a good reminder to me as well, even though I’m still in it, to catastrophize less. sdh1545 posted on bostonglobe.com

There are times in a dear friend’s life that require extra effort, sympathy, and care. ditka1 posted on bostonglobe.com

CONTACT US

Write to magazine@globe.com or The Boston Globe Magazine/

Comments, 1 Exchange Place, Suite 201, Boston, MA 02109-2132. Comments are subject to editing.