Wednesday, Aug 20, 2008
Is Martha Stewart's move a "good thing"? Plus: Ungrateful bride should send thank yous anyway; why we loathe Hillary Clinton.
Apr 14, 2000 | C O R R E C T I O N
The original published version of "Twilight of the cryptogeeks" by Ellen Ullman contained two factual errors that have been corrected. Lenny Foner is a Ph.D. from the MIT Media Lab. And Ontario Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian did not attend Foner's workshop at the Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference.
From household saint to social pariah
BY KATE MOSES
(04/11/00)
Martha Stewart is lonely in Connecticut, and she has been for years. I was raised in Connecticut, and two of my grandmother's best friends live in Westport -- one had the misfortune to live in her neighborhood. Martha alienated most of her neighbors when, after a small town meeting which gave her permission to film one show a week at her home, she began filming three to four days a week. Martha's home was not in a business district, it is in a very nice area of Westport.
Her neighbors did not expect to have their driveways blocked, their access to their own homes limited, and occasionally their lawns ruined by a huge multimedia crew that behaved as though it was on a film lot. Martha's neighbors did not bargain for watching their homes devalue and their children and grandchildren unsafe on the sidewalks covered by trucks. Martha was approached by a neighborhood committee that requested that she keep her promises -- she declined to do so. She was sued at one point. Many of her new neighbors bought their homes from fleeing older people, and they, too, have little regard for Martha.
-- Kathleen Hosley
I moved to Westport from New York City last year, and I agree with most of Martha's comments about the town.
But what she didn't mention in the New York Times is her recent purchase of the 20-plus acre Sharp estate in Bedford, N.Y., one of the last working farms in the area.
Stewart is not fleeing the 'burbs for Manhattan but just moving on to her next renovation project, and to a community not so unlike Westport (all the celebs are buying in Bedford, says Vanity Fair).
-- Stephen Graham
I found your article very interesting, but you did not mention a "Remembering" column that I will never forget wherein she wrote about her daughter's wedding. Her daughter had a very small ceremony and did not confer with her mother at all. Martha casually wrote that she feared she might not be invited at all! I read this and blushed with embarrassment for her. What is going on when a daughter does not invite her mother to her wedding? Certainly too much to allude to in an end page, but I do not think she sees the implications. It is fascinating how emotionally out of touch she is.
I agree with you in that I don't want to see Martha's vulnerable underbelly. I think she is more than a little crazy, but I don't need to know the details. I have stopped reading the end pages of Martha Stewart Living. More often than not I finish the magazine sad.
-- Aundrea DeFur
How sad that Martha has neighbors rude enough, and stupid enough, to slam the door on her when she brings them eggs and produce! If Martha showed up here, I'd drag her inside and lock her in the basement until she organized everything and decided on a unified decorating scheme. Forget Westport, Martha, come to Concord!
-- Molly Carocci
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