Letters to the Editor: 01.09.97
'Home, Sweet Home'
New York
December 30, 1996
Dear Mrs. Rattray,
On the house in the center of East Hampton Village called "Home, Sweet Home," there is a bronze plaque placed there by the East Hampton Historical Society stating that this was the home of John Howard Payne, who wrote the famous song "Home, Sweet Home."
In the book "An Illustrated Treasury of Songs" from the National Gallery of Art, published in 1991 by Rizzoli International Publications, which contains the music for this song, it states that the words are by Dr. Brewster Higley and the music by Daniel E. Kelly.
I wonder if you or your readers can furnish information on who the real composer-librettist was.
Sincerely yours,
WILLIAM B. GLECKMAN
'Bric Upstult'
Amagansett
January 3, 1997
Dear Mrs. Rattray,
Got a letter in the mail the other day. "Meet me on Monday, 11 a.m., Little Albert's Landing. A few minutes of your time. Town politics the topic." It was signed "Bric Upstult." Miraculously, I had nothing else to do that Monday morning, so I arrived at Little Albert's with a mixture of curiosity and fear.
After I waited in my car a short while, a boat suddenly appeared, heading in my direction and flashing a beam of light. I approached the shore as a man in waders plunged into the water and shook my hand.
"Mr. Upstult?" I asked. "Yeah," he replied. "Get aboard. It'll be more private out there." After maneuvering through the water in silence for a while, Upstult said, "You look older in person. A bit heavier, too. You put on weight?"
"It's a constant battle, sir," I said. Upstult said, "That last batch of letters you wrote was pretty rough." I said, "I assumed I hit a nerve considering all of the personal attacks in some of the letters that followed."
Upstult navigated north toward livelier water. "That's a sure sign," Upstult replied. "And the way you went after Timmy Volk!"
"Why do they call him Timmy?" I asked, wondering if there was a string of Tim Volks of which this one was the most junior. "Tim's a good fellow," Upstult said.
"He just got a little carried away a few years back, that's all." I said, "Well, I meant no harm to Volk personally. I even mentioned that no one could begrudge a businessman seeking reorganization of his finances. But that didn't seem clear to some of the other readers. Some of these guys really hate my guts."
Upstult said, "They don't know you well enough to hate you. They just see you as some snob who's come here to tell them how to live. It doesn't matter what you say or how you say it, it's their duty to negate your opinion, whatever it takes. Personal attacks and all. That's party politics."
"Well, I'm used to that," I said. "But I'm from UpIsland. Massapequa. You know, sushi as bait. My dad was a public school teacher. I pumped gas and cut lawns!"
Upstult sighed. "It doesn't matter, Alec," he said. "These are guys who think Jerry Della Femina is James Reston. They don't need reasons to back up anything."
"Why did you want to see me, Mr. Upstult?" I asked.
Upstult cut the engine and we began to drift peacefully. "I'm a Republican Committeeman. Twenty-five years ago I was a Democrat, and even served as a Democratic Committeeman. Now, I've voted Republican in every election since 1980, but I feel we've got to cut through this partisan back-biting. It's paralyzed the Federal Government and I see it toxifying the situation here in East Hampton."
I nodded in agreement while he lit his pipe.
He continued, "The Federal Government only serves to redistribute money. It takes tax dollars and hands it out to the poor as welfare and big business as corporate welfare. They don't have any real solutions. And the more that everybody just spits on each other, the further we are from real answers."
We sat quiet for a few moments while I took his words to heart.
"The town government has an obligation to find out what choices its residents want to make," he continued. "That's what it's all about. Choices. That's what it's always been about."
"I asked, "What do you think the right choice is regarding the Trustees and the Z.B.A.?"
Upstult shrugged and said, "I don't think it will make a difference, so long as it's politically motivated. Things are probably just fine as they are. It's just more politics, and that will only make people more cynical."
I remembered Louis Lapham's book wherein he said the country had become like a hotel and Americans were all guests. So long as they kept the service up and the riff-raff out, the hotel management could pretty much do as they please. "What do you suggest could be done by people who care about the area?" I asked.
Upstult leveled his gaze at me and said, "You've got to begin by cutting out the partisan B.S. That's getting us nowhere. Maybe some concerned groups of people outside the government could put their ideas together. Find out the facts and take their case to the Town Board. Most politicians are followers, not leaders, and need to be told what to do. We could wait for these folks an awfully long time and by then it could be too late."
"Too late," I echoed.
Upstult groaned. "We should put more farmers in town government. They know the value of the land out here. Not a bunch of politicians or actors. No offense."
"No offense taken," I said. I felt a New Year's resolution coming on. "I suppose I should stop attacking the Republicans in my letters to Mrs. Rattray," I said.
"That would be a start," Upstult said.
We headed back to Little Albert's. Upstult left me where he found me. "Can I call you?" I asked.
"I'm in the book," he said. We shook hands once more, and I headed to my car. I glanced over my shoulder, and suddenly Bric and his boat were gone. Vanished into thin air.
I drove home and looked up Bric Upstult in the phone book, hoping to reconnect, but the listing wasn't there. I thought about what he'd said, all of it right and true. And when I rearranged the letters of his name, I discovered not only who he was, but the one thing that should matter to all politicians and letter writers as well.
Happy New Year,
ALEC BALDWIN
Great Web Site
East Hampton
January 6, 1997
Mrs. Rattray,
Great Web site. Congratulations for getting on line.
STEVE HAWEELI
WordHampton PR