Henderson woman keeps writing 'Letters for a Better World'

World peace seems like an outdated ideal.

Daily headlines such as "139 dead after Embassy bombings," "Bomb-ravaged Northern Ireland grieves" and "Colombia rebels kill soldiers" numb us with reality. The notion of world peace simply becomes ludicrous.

But some still believe world peace is attainable.

Adele Seigel, a 78-year-old retired bookkeeper from Henderson who has lived through several wars, believes world peace is possible. She also believes her "peace project" can help promote peace.

For the past 10 years, she has directed a barrage of letters, faxes and phone calls urging peace to government leaders around the world.

Leaders she has written to include: Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization; Shimon Peres, former prime minister of Israel; Newt Gingrich, speaker of the House; Sen. Harry Reid; Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam; former President George Bush; Vice President Al Gore; and Pope John Paul II.

Seigel, a widow, has compiled the letters she has sent and the responses she has received into a book called "Letters For A Better World," which she has sold at local book stores. She solicited a publisher in hopes of getting it published, but the publisher declined, she said, citing a lack of interest in the subject matter.

"So many people told me when I started: 'You're crazy. You're wasting your time and money,' " she said, adding that she's spent thousands of dollars in phone, fax and printing costs.

"I know I'm crazy," she said, but added: "If you don't work on it, nothing gets better."

At a young age, Seigel decided that erasing hate and prejudice -- the root of war and terrorism -- would be her mission.

"When I was 10, I was in the Jewish synagogue with my mother listening to the rabbi. He said a lot of people didn't like the Jewish people," she explained. "Then as I got older, I realized how many people hated Jewish people and I said 'I hope I can change that.' "

She used to stay awake at night thinking about how difficult it would be to be a world leader. She even contemplated running for president at one point.

But, even without the power of the presidency, Seigel persists in admonishing many a world leader.

"Dear President Salinas ... What I would like to see is that your country do more for your people so that they will be more content with their life as we have so many of our own people homeless," Adele wrote in 1993 to Carlos Salinas de Gortari, president of Mexico.

And to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein:

"... Let us forget the past and start all over again. Every one of us has suffered so much ... Please think about all of the above very carefully, and if all the countries work together, everyone, including yourself, will find himself a much happier person," she wrote in 1991. He sent a thank you note back.

Seigel's letters of peace aren't typed on a sophisticated computer. She doesn't even own a typewriter, nor does she drive, so she rides the bus to the copy center, where she types her letters. "I'm always running, as tired as I am," she said.

She literally runs. "If you're going to have to wait a whole hour for a bus and you see one coming, you're going to run," she said. Her sense of humor is what keeps her going. " Life is a laughing matter," she insists.

A life of misfortune would seem to make her an unlikely spokeswoman for world peace.

Seigel was never able to finish college, and never realized a number of ambitions, including a career at the United Nations or one as a radio talk show host.

Moving around a lot -- Boston, Washington D.C., New York, Los Angeles -- she spent much of her time caring for sick relatives and enduring what she calls two bad marriages. She also suffered her own health problems, including an ovarian tumor, which occurred during pregnancy.

But she found time to thoughtfully explore solutions to world problems. In her letters, she outlined solutions such as: a domestic peace corps to help gang members make the transition to a crime-free life; free lunches for poor children; outlawing of guns; employing social workers to help the homeless; using defense money to battle crime in the U.S.; enforcing birth control to alleviate overpopulation; and a national health bill.

"Dear Senator (Edward) Kennedy ... National health would help to bring down crime, help the homeless and improve the economy. If you do not get with it, we will have to elect another Congress. People are getting disgusted," she wrote in 1990.

To which Sen. Kennedy's office replied generically: "The subjects mentioned in your letter are a source of concern for all of us ... Your ideas will be helpful to me in the days ahead." The senator's signature was 100-percent genuine rubber stamp.

Many returned responses are rubber-stamped-signature letters, but for her peace of mind, doing something is better than doing nothing at all. "Once you stop trying, you don't have anything," she said.

However, Seigel has received some genuine responses, including a letter from Tom Bradley, former Los Angeles mayor. Other responses are from designated correspondence secretaries.

But receiving no response outrages her. While living in Los Angeles, she sent a letter to a school superintendent, suggesting after-school volunteer work for gang members. She received no response. "On top of that, I called him and he never talked to me," she said.

President Bill Clinton has been the target of letters from Seigel. Though she said she didn't vote for him because she thought he was too young, she said Clinton has done well for the country, adding that he just needs better advisors "and maybe a psychologist."

In addition to letters, radio and TV help spread ideas, Seigel said. In the same way she inundates leaders with letters, she calls talk radio shows. In Los Angeles, she produced a public access cable series called "For A Better World," which served as a platform for discussions on solutions to community and world problems.

When library funding was cut in Los Angeles and some of the libraries were shortening hours or closing, she produced a video rallying support for the libraries. She also wrote to former presidential candidate Ross Perot and asked him to donate money to the library system.

"As I understand it, you (Perot) pay $255,000 to be able to address your opinions on the airwaves ... What I would like to do is use the $255,000 toward keeping the libraries open and perhaps we can get more people interested in donating more money," she wrote in 1993.

Although Perot didn't donate money, her theory is, it doesn't hurt to ask. "I take all kinds of action," she said, wondering why other people don't do anything about community and world problems. "Some people just care about their life and that's it."

Since settling in Henderson, and now weakened with osteoporosis, Seigel is easing up on world leaders and trying to reach future world leaders -- children. She hopes to volunteer in the local elementary schools and teach peace and conflict resolution.

Using her book as a guide, she said she would teach children how to write letters of peace and teach them how to accept criticism without resorting to violence.

"They're not taught how to accept things," she said. "People can't stand anybody telling them anything."

Until then, she's tending to her peace-keeping mission in her own neighborhood. Children visit her at her home and read her book. In return, Seigel gives them candy, cookies and knickknacks. And she beams when the neighborhood kids whisper to each other that "she talks to the president."

Evidence of Seigel's success, she said, though just a tiny step toward world peace, is a thank-you letter she received from a 10-year-old girl, who read her book.

"This," she said, "is worth all my efforts."

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