Retailer’s Response to Threat to Audio Books

Regarding “Audio Books Face Censorship Threat” (April 18), as president of Dove Books On Tape, the largest retail seller of audio books in the West, let me state our company’s policy.

There is no place for censorship in literature--in written, recorded or in any other form. It is any responsible manufacturer’s ethical duty to alert their potential audience of possibly offensive material. But, this cannot be legislated. It was not long ago that Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn” was banned as objectionable. Artistic merit, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. This is a decision that each individual must be free to make for themselves.

MICHAEL VINER, President, Dove Books On Tape, Studio City