Dan’s Papers March 30, 2012 danshamptons.com Page 55
LETTERS WRONGO Dear Dan, It is unmistakable, undeniable, and proven beyond reasonable doubt. You can continue your tricky caper, but you won’t fool me. The clues are all there: Use short sentences. Never reveal the hook until the end. Keep the writing simple, yet brilliant. Keep the paragraphs short and punchy, and never ever miss an opportunity to embellish the story, especially with something funny like a duck. A duck being thrown at a Supervisor, yes, that’s the ticket! Umm…what else? Oh yes, the stream of consciousness way you write your stories. You know, I remember saying “Hello” to you one day while you were writing on your laptop at the beach, and I told you how much I enjoyed your books. And then last week, I saw you at the IGA on North Main Street, and told you that you’ll be known far and wide someday, and studied in college courses, and your writing style will be called some name like “Hemingway-esque” or “Salingeresque”. What other writer in the 20th and 21st centuries has over 14,000 stories to his credit and a successful career over five decades? It is incredibly transparent after all. You’re developing apprentices, building a school, a guild, a stable of writers whom you’ve shared your secrets with. But no one else can write quite like you. I know you are Mr. Sneiv. The only thing I haven’t quite figured out is what Mr. “Sneiv” stands for. Sneaky, Innocent, and Very funny? Veins? (No, that makes no sense, and it’s not even spelled right). I don’t quite know, but I know it’s sneaky. You won’t get away with it… Professor Moriarty (He’s crazy, but he made me deliver this letter to you. I think he’s a real fan). Love the paper Dan – keep it up! Peter Mendelman I promise you, Mr. Sneiv is not me. –DR LIT UP MY LIFE Dear Dan, After reading your article “Saving Montauk Light: Montauk’s Lighthouse Scheduled to be Torn Down in the 1960’s” from March 23, I just want to give you my sincerest thanks for your pivotal role in saving the Montauk Point Lighthouse. Although I have heard about the preservation efforts of the lighthouse during the 60’s, I had no idea you wrote the article or the occurrence of any major events that immediately succeeded the article’s publishing. The reasoning behind my thanks lies in my family’s relatively recent history with the site. My mother, Deborah Sevigny, won a quilt contest put on by the Montauk Historical Society during the lighthouse’s bicentennial celebration in 1996. Since then, my parents and I have been very close with the people who live and work at the Light. My mom has crafted a number of additional quilts to be raffled off in the gift shop. This close connection with the light and the history it embodies is also a major reason behind my current interest in the field of Historic Preservation. I actually had the privilege of interning at the Light during the summer of 2010 to document and create three design concepts for adaptively reusing the 1838 Keeper’s Quarters at the base of the hill. You put it best, “To me, the Montauk Lighthouse was like the Empire State Building.” If it wasn’t for your article in 1967, I could not even begin to describe how different my life would be, along with the lives of everyone on Long Island. Thank you again! D.J. Sevigny
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Hundreds of people were involved here. I just told the story as I remembered it. –DR NOTED Dear Dan, In her review of “The Music Show” at the East End Arts Council art gallery in Riverhead (March 16), your freelance correspondent Marion W. Weiss showed acute visual perception in noting the “old building filled with character, history, and a brick patio where flowers are beginning to bloom.” All the more reason then to ask why precisely, in her full half-page review of the show (with photos), she lists and evaluates the First Place and Second Place Winners, and an Honorable Mention, but ignores the piece named “Best in Show” by Irish-born Christina Nalty, which stands prominently in the main gallery
room surrounded by French windows – which must have surely drawn her attention. Three possibilities spring to mind: 1) she wasn’t there; 2) she was there but decided to ignore the piece in her review; 3) she was there and didn’t understand that the Parrish Art Museum judge’s awarding of “Best in Show” is the top award. It is unprofessional, regardless of motive, and Dan’s Papers deserves better. I know Christina Nalty certainly does. Sincerely, Gerard Donovan Calverton
askdan@danspapers.com (e-mails only, please) I can truthfully say that after nearly 20 years as the Art Critic for Dan’s Papers I have never received this kind of response, although I know people are understandably disappointed when I don’t write about their work. Often, it is a matter of logistics because in a group show, especially, there is not enough space to include everyone. A critic has the right and the priviledge to include what she/he believes is appropriate and in accordance with the context that is established in the first paragraph of a critique. This was done. As a critic, it is not my intention to “describe” art or merely list “winners;” I attempt something more in-depth, hopefully, examining the MEANING of the work. This show at EEAC was about how art represented music, not literally, but figuratively. That is the context that I established in the article and used to select the works to write about. I am not suggesting that Christina Nalty’s work was unworthy. Of course it was. But suppose the judge did not select a work you thought should be given Best in Show? Would that judge be deemed “unprofessional?” Quite the opposite. The judge is just doing her job, selecting work according to her expressed criteria. I hate to use the expression, “Judging and critiquing is a matter of opinion.” It’s not really all opinion, but if that will make more sense to you, so be it. Thank you for your letter. It’s obvious you care about art in this community, and that’s important. –MWW
Police Blotter Hamptons Mafia? A man in Water Mill called police after somebody left a headless dead deer in the middle of his driveway. The man believed that the headless deer was left there intentionally to harass him. Why did you go to the police? Why didn’t you come to me first? Winners Two men in Riverhead were arrested after police found them in the middle of the street, laying down, high on PCP. They were arrested on charges of loitering, appearing in public under the influence of narcotics, criminal possession of a controlled substance and being nightmares to society. Local A local young man was arrested and charged with making graffiti and being in possession of a graffiti instrument after he was seen spraypainting a sign at Sagg Main Beach. The young man was also in possession of an unlawful amount of marijuana. Shelter Island Old Man McGumbus, 104-years-old, and former World War II underwater explosives expert, was arrested last week for overcrowding and lewd conduct taking place at his home. McGumbus, who recently constructed a large white rock in
the middle of his front yard in honor of his fallen fellow country men, was spotted running out in the middle of the street intoxicated, wearing nothing but a silk robe and holding a bottle of Wild Turkey Bourbon while singing the song, “Lollipop” by the Chordettes very loudly at two in the morning, causing neighborhood dogs to howl and bark. According to neighbors, within hours of McGumbus constructing the white rock monument, hundreds of people began showing up at his house, playing music extremely loudly and participating in activities, “too extreme to discuss.” No arrests were made. Stolen Kindle A woman in Southampton reported that her Kindle was stolen from her car while the car was parked on her property. The woman also reported that 78,000 books were stolen from her car. (No good? Bad joke? No good? I thought that was funny). Stolen Television A Southampton man reported that somebody stole a flat screen television from one of the rooms at the hotel he manages. Police are on the lookout for…well…you know…one of those weird guys who just can’t get enough of those late night hotel movies. –David Lion Rattiner