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Larry McMurtry: Movies adapted from his books won 13 Oscars. You could try “Terms of Endearment” or “The Last Picture Show,” but his best book is the great Western novel “Lonesome Dove.” It was made into a TV miniseries in 1989 that is faithful to the book and was certainly the most unromantic western ever made.
What makes it great? Mainly its two unforgettable main characters: Gus McCrae and Captain Woodrow Call, two aging former Texas Rangers. They are played to perfection on TV by Robert Duvall (Gus) and Tommy Lee Jones (Call).
In Episode One, they gather a herd of stolen cattle and horses and drive them from Texas north toward Montana.
Along for the perilous ride are their scout Deets (Danny Glover) and Lorie (Diane Lane), a lovely and good-hearted prostitute.
There are many adventures and subplots along the way, including chilling encounters with the half-breed Blue Duck. (Some of the casual violence here can be disturbing.)
This show won numerous Emmy awards and, along with Clint Eastwood’s “Unforgiven,” is one of the two best westerns ever made. Rent or buy, on Amazon Prime.
Stephen King has not been served as well by movie and TV adaptations, but their sheer number has yielded some gems, in TV by the miniseries “The Outsider,” based on his 2018 novel (although I actually prefer King’s recent supernatural detective stories to much of his horror and science fiction).
This one was adapted for TV by one of our best crime writers, Richard Price, who also wrote for “The Wire.”
The story centers on the horrific murder of a young boy. An investigation by detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn) leads to the arrest of a popular Little League coach Terry Maitland (Jason Bateman).
The evidence against him is overwhelming, but there is equally strong evidence that he could not have done it.
It all seems quite impossible until Ralph asks for the aid of Holly Gibney (Cynthia Erivo), a private investigator who figured in King’s earlier book, “Mr. Mercedes.” The plot then moves in a darker and supernatural direction. All the actors perform admirably, especially Erivo, who sort of steals this entertaining show. King once said: “I love Holly and wish she were a real person.” On HBOMax.
Michael Connelly’s notable work is not one book, but many that feature LAPD detective Harry Bosch, a Special Forces veteran who works for Hollywood Homicide. These were developed into a popular series called simply “Bosch,” which has run for six seasons and was recently renewed for a seventh and final season.
It stars my Cornwall neighbor Titus Welliver.
Madison Lintz plays his teen daughter, Maddie. Their relationship, which grows more complicated and interesting, is one of the best things about the show.
Although “Bosch” feels a bit like an old-fashioned police procedural, it is distinguished by superior acting, writing, and its believable and gritty atmosphere. The plotting is mostly suspenseful and well paced, but occasionally it gets overcomplicated, and you may find yourself scratching your head. This is a first-rate series. On Amazon Prime.
Ed Ferman is the former editor and publisher of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and has been an editor at the Cornwall Chronicle for many years. He has lived in Cornwall since 1969. If you’d like to contact him, he is at eferman2@gmail.com.
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Telecom Reg’s Best Kept On the Books
When Connecticut land-use commissions update their regulations, it seems like a no-brainer to jettison old telecommunications regulations adopted decades ago during a short-lived period when municipalities had authority to regulate second generation (2G) transmissions prior to the Connecticut Siting Council (CSC) being ordered by a state court in 2000 to regulate all cell tower infrastructure as “functionally equivalent” services.
It is far better to update those regs instead, especially for macro-towers given new technologies like small cells. Even though only ‘advisory’ to the CSC, the preferences of towns by law must be taken into consideration in CSC decision making. Detailed telecom regs – not just a general wish list -- are evidence that a town has put considerable thought into where they prefer such infrastructure be sited without prohibiting service that many – though not all – citizens want and that first responders rely on for public safety.
Such regs come in handy when egregious tower sites are proposed in sensitive areas, typically on private land. The regs are a town’s first line of defense, especially when cross referenced to plans of conservation and development, P&Z regulations, and wetlands setbacks. They identify how/where the town plans to intersect with the CSC process. They are also a roadmap for service providers regarding preferred sites and sometimes less neighborhood contention. In fact, to have no telecom regs can weaken a town’s rights to protect environmental, scenic, and historic assets, and serve up whole neighborhoods to unnecessary overlapping coverage and corporate overreach. Such regs are unique to every town and should not follow anyone else’s boiler plate, especially industry’s.
Connecticut is the only state that has a centralized siting entity for cell towers. The good news is that applicants must prove need for new tower sites in an evidentiary proceeding and any decisions have the weight of the state behind them. The bad news is that the CSC used to be far less industry-friendly and rote in their reviews, which now resemble a check list. There is an operative assumption at CSC that if an applicant wants a tower, they must need it, otherwise why spend significant money to run the approval gauntlet? This reflects a subtle shift over the years at CSC from sincere willingness to protect the environment toward minimal tweaking of bad applications with minor changes. The bottom line is that towns really cannot rely on the CSC to do all the work for them.
What CSC issues telecom providers is a “certificate of environmental compatibility” after an evidentiary proceeding (not unlike a court case) with intervenors, parties, expert witnesses, and the service provider’s technical pro’s sworn in and subject to cross examination. Service providers get to do the same with any opposition from intervenor/party participants – like towns and citizens -- and their experts. It’s an impressive process whose ultimate goal is the fine balancing between allowing adequate/reliable public services and protecting state ecology with minimal damage to scenic, historic, and recreational values. They unfortunately often fall short of their mandate – like approving cell towers with diesel generators over town aquifers -- evidenced by CSC only rejecting about five cell towers in the past 15-20 years.
The CSC was founded in 1972 and clarified its mission in the 1980’s to prevent the state from being carved up willy-nilly by gas pipelines, high tension corridors, and broadcast towers. With the sudden proliferation of cell towers beginning in late 1990’s, it became the most sued agency in Connecticut by both an arrogant upstart industry if applications were denied and by towns/citizens when bad sites were forced on them. CSC gradually formed a defensive posture that drives their decisions toward industry with deeper pockets and attorneys on retainer.
For citizens, nothing can wreck one’s day like the CSC. It behooves towns to protect what little toolkit they have, and understand the legal parameters of the CSC’s playing field. The CSC is not a “normal” government agency where municipal/citizen redress is based on logic and local support. Their process is largely immune to everything but specific kinds of evidence – like town regs with setbacks/fall zones, radio frequency transmission signal strengths, sensitive areas identified, and detailed wildlife inventory, among others.
There is a current cell tower fight involving two intervening towns -- Washington and Warren; both with good cell tower regs – over a tower site within 1200’ of a Montessori School, near Steep Rock’s nature preserves with comprehensive geology/wildlife databases that include endangered, threatened and special concern flora and fauna, on established federal/state migratory bird flyways, within throwing distance to a historic site capable of being listed on the Underground Railroad, and with an access road on a blind curve entering a state highway that will permanently damage wetlands, vernal pools, and core forests. There are well credentialed environmental experts, including Dr. Michael Klemens, former chair of Salisbury’s P&Z, as well as the former director of migratory bird management at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and an RF engineer testifying to alternative approaches, plus three attorneys representing intervenors. It is the most professional challenge I have seen at CSC since Falls Village successfully mounted one that protected Robbins Swamps several years ago.
The hearing is ongoing, with uncertain results. To see what it takes today to stop an inappropriate tower siting, see Docket #543 under “Pending Matters” at https://portal.ct.gov/csc before removing local cell tower regs – the lowest hanging fruit that any town can possess in case it’s needed.
B, Blake Levitt is the Communications Director at The Berkshire-Litchfield Environmental Council. She writes about how technology affects biology.