Comments on n1303k: The Phonies of Cornish, New Hampshire

Living there, and having had less than pleasant de...

2010-02-01T10:00:12.956-05:00

Living there, and having had less than pleasant dealings with the local select-board, I can definitely attest to the fact that the town has a lot of pretentious phonies with God-complexes here. I'll qualify that by saying that not all of them are this ill-intentioned, some of them are actually nice folks. But like many other towns, we suffer from social cancer & gossipy, blustering affectation in the upper ranks. I wouldn't want to serve in any capacity of oversight in this town. It must be too frustrating to be one of the good ones having to goose-step around the bad ones' egos.

One of the things I like about living in Cornish (...

2010-02-01T06:28:04.073-05:00

One of the things I like about living in Cornish (a mile from the General Store), is that pretty-much everyone is super-friendly, and pretty-much everyone leaves you alone. There are church suppers and whatnot if you want to attend, and zero social pressure to do so, as far as I can tell.

Mike Ackerman is a nice guy - rarely have my occasional media appearances captured the full range of my person. But if you own the local store and tell some random city-mouse on the hunt for a reclusive country-mouse in the woods that you WON'T tell them where he lives, you're going to have someone hassling you and your customers for the next half hour. Giving intrusive strangers incorrect directions is a New England tradition that far pre-dates Salinger and Ackerman.

Thank gopod Cornish doesn't usually get intensive daily news coverage - we might turn into Norwich or something! ;)

Be sure to read today's NYT op-ed suggesting t...

2010-01-30T14:07:48.770-05:00

Be sure to read today's NYT op-ed suggesting that Salinger's later works are worthy of greater attention.

Regards,
Tom

It is mighty disappointing to find that artists (o...

2010-01-30T06:08:40.811-05:00

It is mighty disappointing to find that artists (or politicians) have less than desirable traits. But if we were to toss out their contributions because of this we might have very little to read and look at. I choose to see it as part of the whole package. That being said- there are some packages that just aren't worth the trouble.

On the other hand, these people have chosen professions that bring fame. Part of the allure of being a writer/artist/politician is wide spread public recognition for what you have done. Beware of what you ask for......