A version of this letter appeared in print on November 2, 2011, on page A30 of the New York edition with the headline: Helping Madoff’s Victims. To see the online version, click the image above.

Re “Madoffs Writing Their Own Future” (Business Day, Oct. 31):

If Ruth and Andrew Madoff, the wife and surviving son of Bernard L. Madoff, really want the public to look upon them favorably, as they claim, then they should devote the rest of their lives to helping the victims of Mr.
Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.

Whether or not they are legally required to do this, it would be the ethically intelligent and compassionate course of action.

BRUCE WEINSTEIN
New York, Oct. 31, 2011

The writer is the author of “Ethical Intelligence: Five Principles for
Untangling Your Toughest Problems at Work and Beyond.”