Letters to the Editor 9-22-16

So long a wait for so little at refurbished library

As I approached my familiar friend, the iconic Scoville Memorial Library (SML), I was pleased to see the old facade as was, except for the unfortunate Sesame Street animals that affront the adult eye and the dignity of the building.

Upon entering the hallowed doors, I was shocked to see the reception area, which looked more like a cold and gray Starbucks counter and so too with the funereal black sterile line of visitor computers; thankfully lacking a large coffee urn.

My initial disappointment was put aside by my loyal objectivity to SML. My eye scanned up and down, left and right, for some solace. Alas, I saw the most inappropriate array of sterile, hard-edged, cold glass, metal framing and railings. Was this a new Salisbury bank branch? 

This pitiable redo of our cherished old building violates all the proportions, massing and detailing reflective of the SML Romanesque style. This is not the warm environment we remember and hoped for in our revered oldest library in Connecticut. Instead, we are burdened forever with the malign monotony of Post-Modernism. Nowhere evident was the warm feeling of wood with a patina that evokes tradition. Absent were any faux copies of a distressed Dickensian leather sofa. Nowhere any large Wing chairs that you could snuggle into with a good book and disappear. To compound the felony, there were modernistic (a pejorative) Bauhaus type chairs of the 1950s, long considered very declassé. 

I must declare that I know and very highly esteem several members of the SML Board of Directors; all very accomplished, talented and sophisticated people. How then this product and my gross disappointment thereof? The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in the Board, but in the unfortunate design of the job. How dare the designers inflict their minimalist personalities on 1741 old Salisbury, whose history we are presently celebrating? The old Scovilles, along with Longfellow, Melville, Dickenson and Tennyson, must be turning over in their respective graves and on the bookshelves.

The one grace note of my visit was meeting the adorable Ms. Sarah Williams, who escorted me about.

Alfred Nemiroff

Salisbury

Dealing with Kim Young Un

If I were President of the United States, I would meet with the heads of state of all the countries bordering on North Korea and inform them as follows: If another missile is launched by Kim Young Un from North Korean soil, the United States will shoot it down, armed or unarmed. Kim’s saber-rattling must be met with clear, unequivocal action. No questions asked or answered, just action.

Thomas Crowley

West Cornwall

The visit: a letter to my son on Hillary Clinton

I’ve been thinking about “the visit” every concerned mother must make.

 Here’s what it comes down to. Either I make the visit to see my 28-year-old son face to face, or, quite frankly, I can never face him again without admitting I could have done more to convince him that this election could spell the end of the world as he knows it.

When I wonder what to tell other voters about why it is important to vote for Hillary, the list of why not to vote for the alternative always “trumps” my Hillary positives. Some of the things she has fought for may sound like medicine, and most people don’t want to take their medicine, least of all children. This year, let’s call them the “children of Bernie.” But they’re OUR children too.

What will I say when my son opens the door and sees me standing there? Apart from a big hug, here’s how I will express how scared I am.

“I know how ticked off you were when Bernie lost the delegate count. The same way I would have felt if Bernie had deprived me of my desire to see a woman as president. But here’s the one thing I want you to know: Donald Trump thinks he can play with nuclear weapons like you played with dinosaurs and Legos. He has asked more than once, ‘Why can’t I use nuclear weapons?’ The answer is, if he’s President, he CAN and he WILL. And if there’s one thing I am going to try to prevent, it is Donald exploding YOUR future because a North Korean playmate bullied him on the global playground or because an ISIS-inspired neighbor climbed the wall Congress wouldn’t give Donald the money to build around our country.  So ... I am going to give you another hug, get in the car, and drive back home. But, can you please consider how seriously scary it is to give Donald Trump ‘the nuclear option?’ Can you please care about your future as much as I do by voting for Hillary Clinton this time around?”

This will involve a four-day, 27-hour car trip to Denver plus five minutes of my son’s time, and, yes, I am bringing along his father for ammunition. Strong-arming? Who cares! Whatever way we can show him WE care.

For those who have never felt comfortable knocking on strangers’ doors, don’t. But for goodness sake, knock down the doors of your own kids’ apartments, houses, trailers, and yurts so they witness your extreme angst about what might be.

Molly Scoville Fitzmaurice

Taconic