Guptara writes wisely:  
  
"While I am in sympathy with much of the tenor of your mail to John, I  
must say that it seems a little precious to insist that one must be a  
"scholar" in relation to a subject before one can express a view in  
relation to it."  
  
More tersely, I don't have to eat the whole omelette to know one of the eggs  
was bad. Art is long, but time is fleeting, so, as Guptara says, a temperate  
reasonableness is called for in admitting people to express their views.  
  
I, too, might wish that no one could reject my ideas until that person had  
studied all my works, the story of my life, the influences on my childhood,  
the circumstances of my education, and so on. You would rightly say I was  
demanding too much. So I agree with Guptara.  
  
Mason Gaffney