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Letters: Reporting Abuse, Finding Personal Renewal

BRIAN NAYLOR, HOST:

It's Tuesday, and time to read from your comments. When we talked to author P.J. O'Rourke about his new book "Holidays in Heck," many of you offered suggestions of where P.J. should go next. Wu Nyen Proul(ph) in Franklin, Kentucky, wrote: Visit Easter Island. It's such a humbling experience to stand before the Moai; sleep to the sound of waves; pure, unpolluted air; and great fish. Even a 4G iPhone can't get a connection. You and your family will enjoy what it's like to live without the Worldwide Web - these days, something one can only imagine.

Photographer Annie Leibovitz joined us to discuss her new book of photographs, "Pilgrimage," and her journey around the world to take photos of the places and things that brought a sense of personal and artistic renewal. We asked you to share your places of renewal, and Glenna Auxier from Gainesville, Florida, wrote: The mountains of North Carolina - Asheville and Boone - are like magic to me. I breathe better, sleep better, and I just feel a satisfaction that's not the same in the flatland. In Florida, I live on the Earth. In North Carolina, I feel I am in the earth. It's both physical and spiritual. I can't really explain it, but it's very true.

Following the allegations of sexual abuse at Penn State, we discussed why people are often afraid to come forward when they suspect abuse is occurring. Holly Mullen from Salt Lake City, Utah, sent this email: I just started a new job as director of a nonprofit rape recovery center. I do not have a lot of social work experience, but I know this: I wish every person who ever hesitated, or might hesitate, to report child sexual abuse could spend a few hours in our waiting area. We serve male and female victims of sexual assault over the age of 13. Many of them visit us years, even decades after being abused and not believed, often when they were young children. The repercussions and ripple effect in society of not reporting are huge, and painful. Please report.

If you have a correction, comments or questions for us, the best way to reach us is by email. Our address is talk@npr.org. Please let us know where you're writing from, and give us some help on how to pronounce your name. And if you're on Twitter, you can follow us there @totn. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.