Remembering Robert Long

By Marion Wolberg Weiss

There's a quote by Willem de Kooning on the first page of Robert Long's book, De Kooning's Bicycle, that seems more about Long than anyone else: "Everything is already in art. It's like a big bowl of soup. You stick your head in and you find something there for you."

Long was the type of person who would involve himself in all kinds of projects and professions, sticking his head in a big bowl of soup, so to speak, and savoring what life, and its experiences, had to offer.

Consider that Long was a chef at such restaurants as Shazam and Spring Close, that he taught writing at such local institutions as Southampton College and Suffolk Community College (in addition to colleges in other states), that he was a prolific poet, art critic and author. At one point, he was also Guild Hall's Public Relations Director, and the best one yours truly has every worked with, any place, anytime.

As befitting a person who has engaged in such varied endeavors, Long knew people from all walks of life, including Serpico, the hero of Sidney Lumet's film by the same name. When asked if he could contact Serpico and have him participate in a program, he did so without fuss or ego. If he couldn't or wouldn't do something, he'd tell you. Immediately.

As a matter of fact, Long probably had little self-absorption. He had a lot of courage, however, having the guts to criticize a painting in his capacity as art critic for The Southampton Press and The East Hampton Star. It's the kind of guts that most of us don't possess.

Long also had a "brilliant mind," according to one longtime friend, artist Josh Dayton, who added that if it weren't for his friend, he would not be an artist today.

We imaging that there are many people who could express similar sentiments about Long's influence.

Going back to Long's book and the first few pages, we are reminded of what a good writer he was. His penchant for metaphors shows up in the first paragraph with his description of Long Island as a whale: slamming, nudging, grazing.

Long's imagery create a vivid and sensual picture in the reader's mind, when characterizing the local light, for example, in the third paragraph.

His imagined dialogue between Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner later on is not only dynamic but plausible. One wonders if Long were ever interested in writing a screenplay.

It is possible. Anything was possible with Robert Long.

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