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Guestwords

Guestwords: A President for Adults

As Jimmy Carter is now in hospice care, I wonder what might have happened had his prescient words on conservation and self-sacrifice been heeded.

Mar 9, 2023
Guestwords: Driver’s Ed Drop-Off

Thoughts on that road sign that says: Last Exit Before the End of Your Usefulness as a Person.

Mar 2, 2023
Guestwords: Memories of Burt Bacharach

The passing of Burt Bacharach on Feb. 8 frees me to reveal that he was my first love.

Feb 23, 2023
Guestwords: The Real Venture Smith

The remarkable story of a man of character who bought his way out of bondage and became a successful landowner.

Feb 16, 2023
Guestwords: ‘Morning, Sweetest’

Love is revealed in a rediscovered box of notes from 1999.

Feb 9, 2023
Guestwords: Of Places and People

From presidential libraries to art centers, there is inspiration to be found in quiet places that reflect the vision and ambition of the exceptional people whose legacies they preserve.

Feb 2, 2023
Guestwords: The DSM — Goodreads **

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders came in handy when I was terminating my analysis. I recommend it.

Jan 26, 2023
Guestwords: A Bus Driver Says Goodbye

As I move on to another chapter of my life, I am grateful that each day I had the privilege of spending my mornings and afternoons with so much life in its early stages, where everything is new and interesting and exciting.

Jan 19, 2023
Guestwords: Somebody Up There Likes Me

After a rollover, one man has his faith in his fellow citizens restored.

Jan 12, 2023
Guestwords: Gifts That Keep Giving

From our correspondent in Pennsylvania comes a tribute to an illustrator for 50 straight years of Christmas cards that are works or art.

Jan 5, 2023
Guestwords: Meeting Groucho and Cavett

A chance encounter with Dick Cavett on an East Hampton beach leads to a long-term friendship. And to Groucho.

Dec 29, 2022
Guestwords: Cakes for Peace

Just imagine how much more peaceful the world would be if difficult and/or coldhearted people were walloped with a million daily currents of kindness and love.

Dec 22, 2022
Guestwords: Our Obsession With Winning

Trump’s actions with respect to losing the election, while extreme, is hardly new. Winning is a supreme value in American culture.

Dec 15, 2022
Guestwords: Too Many Sweatpants

With its wide legs, its shapeless backside, its expanding waistline, the sweatpant is the official garment of the borderless, post-pandemic world.

Dec 8, 2022
Guestwords: A Day With Pelé 

Pictures of Pelé flashing on TV as FIFA World Cup fever spreads from Qatar to Queens bring back memories of a writer’s sort-of date with him.

Dec 1, 2022
Guestwords: The Real Thanksgiving

Was it a quirk of history or the hand of God that brought Squanto and William Bradford together?

Nov 23, 2022
Guestwords: Rethinking Preservation

The Nov. 3 vote in the Sag Harbor School District to approve buying five lots near the high school with C.P.F. help was significant. It forces all of us to rethink what preservation means for the East End.

Nov 17, 2022
Guestwords: Fork Play: Remembering Gael Greene

As New York magazine’s pioneering “Insatiable Critic” and the first foodie, a term she coined, Gael Greene made dining out a sensual experience to be savored.

Nov 10, 2022
Guestwords: Fuel Lessons From History

The Group of 7 has decided to cap the price it will pay for Russian oil. There may be lessons for that challenge in U.S. history, from World War I to the coal wars of 1922.

Nov 3, 2022
Guestwords: Hope vs. Despair

Last year a group of us decided to tackle our ecological despair with action in a landscape we love — East Hampton and eastern Long Island. We started in our own yards.

Oct 27, 2022
Guestwords: Jeremiah, Jesus

Oct. 22, 1962: I was ordained to ministry in the Presbyterian Church, and President Kennedy addressed the nation on the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Oct 20, 2022
Guestwords: What’s in a Name?

I have a gripe with people who pin appellations on inanimate objects, or on almost anything and everything. I draw the line at labeling automobiles, apartment complexes, houses . . .

Oct 13, 2022
Guestwords: My Dear Feet

I suspect that I haven’t given enough credit to my feet for what they’ve done for me. It’s time to correct that.

Oct 6, 2022
Guestwords: Beach Plum Days

Memories of picking beach plums in Shinnecock Hills, and how they were lovingly jarred in a grandmother’s sweet-smelling kitchen.

Sep 29, 2022
Guestwords: The Queue for the Queen

I hereby pay my respects to this woman who so impressively embodied Britain’s history and spirit.

Sep 22, 2022
Guestwords: Surfing the Birds and the Flies

A road trip to a pioneering surfer’s favorite East End haunts brings a family together.

Sep 15, 2022
Guestwords: Never Too Old for the Book

For years my grandson had been writing in the brown leather visitors’ book after every summer stay at our beach house. Then one day he stopped.

Sep 8, 2022
Guestwords: Memories of Simon Perchik

I got to know Simon Perchik — prolific poet, friend, disputator, World War II vet — when he was barechested and in boxer shorts.

Sep 1, 2022
Guestwords: Ladies and Gentlemen, the Roiling Stones

I've had some amusing experiences while passing stones. Have you?

Aug 25, 2022
Guestwords: Summer Vacation, 1973

It was the summer my family discovered “the Black Hamptons.”

Aug 18, 2022