Dan's Papers - April 4, 2008

Dear Dan,
I have been reading your Dan's Papers, when I have been able to find them, for years.
Dan's Papers is an excellent weekly periodical with many interesting articles (that you see nowhere else!) such as book reviews, dining reviews, local news events and weekly events, all wonderful and interesting. But what I love and look forward to the most are the covers! The beautiful, unique, magnificent art we see week after week. I do not want to throw them out. I want to display them!
How about having frames made with a mat border that would hold a complete issue of Dan's Papers? What an exquisite wall display of art. A larger wall with twelve frames, displaying twelve different issues of Dan's Papers would be beautiful, interesting and a great conversational piece. As few or as many as you wanted could be displayed.
I must admit this was not solely my idea. My husband Joe recently purchased four frames for 33 1/3 LP records, which holds the record and cover. We love them. Joe changes the record albums every few months. During the holidays we had Christmas albums. Now we have Al Hirt @ The Mardi Gras, Sammy Davis, Jr., Just For Love for Valentine's Day, The Everley Brothers and Tommy Makem for St. Patrick's Day and Montovani Film Encores for the Academy Awards. Last summer we had a travel theme. The record covers are also works of art and are fun to display, but they do not compare to the magnificent works of art on Dan's Papers covers I would love to display. Let me know what you think of the idea.

You can always frame them yourself. - DR

Dear Dan,
Thank you so much for the wonderful piece you wrote on Villa Maria (February 1, 2008)
I was a student at the Dominican Junoirate from 1950 to 1953, when it closed as a high school and have very fond memories of both the Villa and the town of Water Mill. Before my husband and I moved to South Carolina, a friend and I drove out to the Villa, which was then the Siena Spirituality Center. The gracious sisters gave us a tour of the renovated house and we walked the grounds, which seemed not to have changed over the years
Your article paid fitting tribute to a unique and well-loved institution. The last paragraph especially touched my heart!

P.S. My niece, a Montauk resident has been keeping me up to date on the changing fortunes of the Villa and called your office to request an additional copy of the article. She spoke to Tom, who sent it directly to me. Thanks again.

I miss going there. - DR

Dear Dan,
I guess that means the end of the Shelter Island Shuttle! That's too bad. I used to enjoy my subway rides going end to end. I used get my position in the front car along side the motor man and gaze out of the front window, watching as we rolled by signal lights and switches. (I always wondered where those other tracks curved off to!)
The best part was looking at all the faces as we pulled into each station. Happy faces, sad faces, angry and surprised faces, (those were probably the people that didn't believe that there was a subway!)
I'm going to miss the "Hampton Subway". I don't have a million bucks to join the club. Too bad!

Don't be so sure this is the end for Hampton Subway. - DR

Dear Dan,
One of my close friends is a Manhattan resident. He has visited the Hamptons on two occasions as a guest at my home in Amagansett. And aside from those two memorable weekends, he's never had the opportunity to spend more pleasant days in this wonderful community.
Evidently, in a store nearby his home on Park Avenue, he stumbled over a stack of Dan's Papers most recent issue (#49). He picked up a copy and immersed himself in the content, which, in his own words, evoked a great deal of pleasure. He was enlightened about the Hamptons Subway Newsletter and asked me if I'd ever roamed about the Hamptons by way of this wonderful and exciting metroline.
Confounded, I answered, "What'r you talkin' about?"
Just as confused, he said, "You know, the subway you guys got out there."
Still perplexed, I pondered a few seconds and assertively replied, "Are you dreaming? There's no subway in the Hamptons." "What'r you mean, I just read about it in Dan's Papers this afternoon," assured my naive friend.
After having read your newsletter, he was convinced beyond doubt that a subway existed and operated in the Hamptons. He then became so enthusiastic and impatient that he quickly decided to visit me again this upcoming season and ride in the deluxe parlour car at the front of the train. Following about fifteen minutes of ineffective explanations, he finally understood that the newsletter is a work of fiction intended for entertainment. Needless to mention, my friend was disappointed and deflated.
At the end of the conversation, when my head stopped spinning, I started reading the same newsletter, which brings me to the objective of this communiqué. Intrigued, I re-read it, this time more attentively. The concept of the story is a great act of creativity. It is humorous, witty, matter-of-factly, and, to those individuals who, like my Manhattan buddy, aren't too familiar with the Hamptons, quite believable.
Most of us writers, because of deep-rooted egotistical dispositions, or perhaps afflicted by other psychological deviations, seldom praise the writings of another author. In a rare moment, I commend you for your congeniality and literary mastery in conceiving the Hamptons Subway Newsletter. With uncertain promises, I look forward to reading succeeding sequels.
I wonder if in the near future we might read about a possible Subway Series, say between The Bridgehampton Bees and The East Hampton Bonackers. Another friend of mine, Walt 'Clyde' Frazier would certainly take pride in being a commentator, if such an event were to materialize.