DEAR ABBY: Hugo Borreson wrote: "Martin Luther King had to go to India to learn the principles of non-violence because they were neither understood nor practiced in the United States."
Abby, Dr. King did not have to go to India to learn the principles of non-violence!
In his book "Stride Toward Freedom" (New York, Harper and Brothers, 1958), he wrote: "... One Sunday afternoon, I traveled to Philadelphia to hear a sermon by Dr. Mordecai Johnson, president of Howard University. He was there to preach for the Fellowship House of Philadelphia.
"Dr. Johnson had just returned from a trip to India, and, to my great interest, he spoke of the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.
"His message was so profound and electrifying that I left the meeting and bought a half-dozen books on Gandhi's life and works ..."
I just wanted to set the record straight, Abby. -- ARTHUR H. PRINCE, PH.D., MEMPHIS
DEAR DR. PRINCE: I am (as always) profoundly grateful for your consistently accurate corrections and additions to my column since its inception. However, I, too, want to keep the record straight. According to "A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Teachings of Martin Luther King Jr." (edited by James M. Washington), Dr. King and his wife did travel to India in 1960 or 1961, and he made reference to the trip in a speech within months of his return.