Top Stories of 2013
Crime, real estate, and a tragic accident in which a young teen was killed while riding her bike were among the top stories on The East Hampton Star's website in 2013. The page with the most traffic, however, was a tribute to the late Lou Reed from his wife, the performer Laurie Anderson. Wide media and blogger attention temporarily overwhelmed the site as hits soared.
The most-clicked story and the third-most popular involved accusations against Jason Lee, a Goldman Sachs executive who was said to have raped an Irish woman in August. A subsequent account added detail, including that Mr. Lee was said to have been found by police crouching in a Range Rover during their initial investigation. Mr. Lee has pleaded not guilty, and a trial is expected.
A story by Irene Silverman shedding light on the sale of Gurney's Inn in Montauk was number two for the year.
When Courtney Ross, the founder of the Ross School in East Hampton and Bridgehampton, announced that she would be departing for a life aboard a newly purchased yacht, an account of her decision, the fourth-most read in 2013, and some reactions to it drew wide attention -- and strong criticism from some in the school's community.
Katie Beers's interview with Joanne Pilgrim on the release of her book about her 17-day imprisonment as a young girl by a family friend and her return to normalcy was number five.
A contributor's account of being fired at age 64 was number six. Hy Abady wrote in The Star's Guestwords column in January, "I love the advertising business. I hate the advertising business."
The seventh slot was occupied by another contributor, Rebecca deWinter, the pseudonymous author of The Star's Tales of a Hamptons Waitress column. Like the Ross School story, Ms. deWinter's columns got a lot of attention, not all of it supportive, and she was fired from her job in an East Hampton restaurant when her bosses caught on.
Fans of the Beales of Grey Gardens renown drove a story about a pending Christies auction sale of an Andy Warhol Polaroid of Little Edie up to the eighth place. It turned out that the price paid, $9,375, exceded the pre-sale estimate.
Alcohol-fueled weekend gatherings on Indian Wells Beach promoted the Town of East Hampton to try putting a gatehouse of sorts at its parking lot entrance to deter nonresidents' cars and taxis. The experiment was a mixed success as it turned out with daytime revelers simply walking in with their beer and other supplies.
The tenth-most-read story on easthamptonstar.com in 2013 was about the death of Anna Mirabai Lytton on Pantigo Road in East Hampton Village June after the 14-year-old was struck while crossing the road on her bicycle.