Dan's Papers - June 26, 2009

Hysterical... I've been coming out to Hamptons since 1966. Your paper was the highlight. The golf and four hour stories were hysterical.

I sold my house two years ago and still go to Madison Avenue and read it. Every issue has many great stories. About the pool light, keep up the great work.

I've been very disappointed to see that my favorite column in your newspaper has been appearing irregularly. Silvia's columns are always interesting, informative, and I love her recipes. I think you should put her back on an every week schedule.

FYI - After reading your article about Disney's efforts to create a black princess, I Googled "African Folktales."

I found this link to a big list of folktales, http://ccs.clarityconnect.com/NRiggs/AfricanFolktales.html

surely a princess is there somewhere...

PS. I remember Song of the South, that's where I learned my first song, "Zippity Do Dah."

Oprah, Queen of the Nile. -DR

My husband, Peter, and I would like to know who wrote the shark article in the recent issue. Probably you? By the way, I love everything you write Dan. Now I plan to join the demonstration tomorrow.

That so many sharks are endangered yet killed for joy or fun I could never understand. Also the Japanese who catch them, cut their fins off for fin soup and throw them back into the ocean to sink to the bottom and die a terrible slow death is terrible. Every living creature feels pain, fear, love (see mothers of all species with their young) and the desire to live as we do. God created us all (for those who believe in a God) and there is such a connection. We, I guess are human primates. Most every living creature has a face...ears, eyes, nose, mouth, etc... like us. So do insects. As I get a little older I notice these things.

By the way, we chatted last year at a charity event for the Wildlife Rescue Center of the Hamptons. I remember commenting on an article your son had written that I'd liked very much. I guess he's a chip off the old block!

He is. (And Amelia Persans wrote

Your book is one of those that is going to wind up costing me a lot more than $24.95 because now that itch that I've had to visit the Hamptons has turned into a full blown rash, with the only possible solution being a trip up there. Sadly, my insurance won't cover that.

To be really trite, I just loved your book. I read about 10 books at one time because one will rarely hold my attention, but yours, I read straight through. Your style of writing... well, can I have it? So to get to the point...

Where to stay? Yes, I've already researched the hotel/motel section of your newspaper. I'll be coming up (I'm in Texas) the last weekend of September. The hotels seem to be of two sorts: The kind I'd like to stay in that are too expensive, and the ones that look scary - 70s that are surprisingly expensive for scary-70s. I'm looking for something that would be about $250 per night. Do you have a suggestion? I swear I will not divulge my source of recommendation!

I don't know anything about the area, other than what I've read in your book, so I don't really even have a clue about where to stay, and relying on my own judgment doesn't seem to be the most prudent way to book a hotel room.