Letters

  My mother, Gloria LaBarbera who died recently, and the writer and cultural commentator Ben Demott forged an affectionate friendship over many years-. The relationship was largely epistolary as they grew older,  though very personal as children walking to Hewitt school from the Nottingham area. I was very proud of the relationship--my mother knew quality, and intellectually, Demott was about the best Rockville Centre has put out, esteemed as a cultural contributor and one of the most respected public intellectuals of his day.  Now gone, my mother at age 99 and Demott at age 81, some 18 years ago, since they were contemporaneous, I am able to write about them more intimately than I would have during either of ther lifetimes. I also have inherited many letters from Demott, as well as some other luminaries. In any case, the friendship sparked about 1929, even though Demott did not exude immense charisma during his gradeschool days. While others strove to show athletic prowe...

Nostalgia can be a deceptively entertaining pursuit. It can be the Baby Boomer's substitute for video gaming--time consuming, entertaining, but nothing that puts dollars in the bank or results in anything gainful. One can be nostalgic en masse, as on a nostolgia facebook page, hearkening back to better days, palmier times, or youth when all was fresh and lively. The lure to nostalgia all around us, and it is easy to sink into reminiscence about the past, breaking the surface tension of time into the watery abyss of yesteryear. Not only is it a waste of time, though, but also a way or rehearsing outdated attitudes, or norms that no longer exist. Recognizing the lure of nostalgia and breaking away from the clutches of old memories we carry around is essential for progess. the allure of old memories offers little of actual substance. As youngsters we were warned of the dangers of TV and now that warning might best be expressed in a warning against oo much nostalgia.