I am grieved at the death of Thomas J. d’Alesandro III, a former mayor of Baltimore [“Scion of civic dynasty served term as Baltimore mayor before quitting politics,” obituaries, Oct. 21]. I taught at a small college in New Hampshire for 43 years. The first reading in my introductory U.S. politics class, which was always filled with aspiring politicians, was Garry Wills’s article “Hurrah for Politicians,” which included an anecdote from d’Alesandro.