Old South Bay Cat

Sag Harbor

October 25, 1997

Dear Helen,

What a pleasure for my friend Pennebaker and me to see that splendid photograph of our old South Bay cat Windward on the front page of last week's Star.

We first came upon her in the early '60s, lying in a creek at East Quogue, a classic South Bay cat with a long, graceful overhung stern. We discovered she had been built by a man named Carter and then we discovered Carter himself, in his 90s, still building boats in his workshop hard by the creek where Windward lay. He directed us to the owner, who was willing to sell, and Penny and I bought her for $500. Old man Carter died not long after the transaction. As an archetypal native craftsman, he received a long celebratory obituary in The New York Times.

Having bought her, we faced the problem of getting her to Sag Harbor. It was then early April and, after determining that she was relatively seaworthy, we decided to sail her under the bridge out of South Bay, through the canal, and then down Peconic Bay and through the North Haven cut to Sag Harbor.

I will never forget the morning we set out from East Quogue. It was a beautiful day rather on the cold side with a strong southwest wind. Unused to Windward's ways, we got into a pickle trying to go under the bridge and were swept by wind and tide against the shore near the bridge. The bridge keeper called the Coast Guard, who hauled us clear and through the bridge. I remember they rather peevishly demanded our number and Penny informed them that, since we had no power, we needed no number.

Our next hurdle was getting her through the canal into the bay and it was no picnic but we finally accomplished it. After that, we set the huge gaff-rigged sail for a broad reach, hauled up the centerboard, and skimmed home to Sag Harbor with the southwest wind behind us. With the board up, Windward drew only inches. It was a glorious day's sailing.

We kept Windward for several years, sailing her with great enjoyment. Windward was her name and windward was her nature. In a strong breeze, sailing close hauled, the helmsman had to fight to keep her from going up into the wind. Finally, she was sold when Penny bought a larger boat from the Mystic Museum. A two-masted sharpie, she was also an antique. I saw Windward around Sag Harbor for a few more years and then she disappeared from sight. Now it appears her home is Mecox Bay.

All best,

JOHN SHERRY

'Q Is Not For Quasar'

Moriches

October 27, 1997

Dear Helen Rattray,

I was shocked that my recent "Guestwords" story, "Q Is Not for Quasar," could elicit such an angry response from a reader.

Mr. David Swickard, chair, department of social studies, East Hampton High School, expressed, as he put it, "humorless outrage" as a result of reading my story. He called my story "a funny little commentary on how advertising and technology work together to subvert old-fashioned ways of thinking. . . ."

As the author I can tell you my intent was much less elaborate than Mr. Swickard suggests. I see it more as a funny little commentary on how school mornings can be for a mother of school-age children.

The fact that Mr. Swickard is able to derive quite so many negative lessons from my helping my 5-year-old son with his homework one morning bewilders me. As a mother of three sons I can attest that 5-year-old boys do need help with their homework. Not that the parent needs to "stand over them," but perhaps sit next to them as I do with Danny to make sure that his letters are shaped properly and that they are on the line.

In all fairness, though, Mr. Swickard was right about one thing. Danny should have found his own picture that morning. But if I had trouble finding a Q picture, do I really think Danny would have been able to find one?

Another point I would like to make as a result of reading Mr. Swickard's scathing letter is that I feel it would behoove him to get his facts straight before making hurtful and disparaging remarks in a newspaper. He was wrong when he said that my older son was rewarded for doing what was minimally required. He was not doing the minimal, having given a five-minute speech the day before in this world history class. That was his assignment, to give a five-minute speech.

As a matter of fact my 16-year-old son has never worked at minimal capability. He is an honor student enrolled in advanced placement classes. Not only that, he gets up on his own on school mornings and commutes, using public transportation, to a high school 30 miles west of where we live. Furthermore, I think that my 16-year-old is mature and responsible enough to decide whether or not he could miss a day of school.

In the real world, at my place of business, I'm given three personal days every year to use at my discretion. Am I not teaching my son a lesson in responsibility by allowing him to make an informed decision about staying home from school? Poor school attendance has never been an issue with any of my sons.

In closing, I would like to say that I take pride in the fact that I have provided a healthy and stable environment for my sons. I have been married for 18 years to a wonderful and caring husband and we have three fine sons. Contrary to what Mr. Swickard mentions in his letter, the art of "hoodwinking" is not promoted nor condoned in my family. Rather, I strive to teach my sons love, respect, kindness, and honesty, and of course, the value of hard work.

Do I sometimes make mistakes as a mother? Yes. Do my children sometimes get Pop Tarts for breakfast? Yes. Mr. Swickard closed his letter by telling us that apples don't fall far from their trees. Well, I hope and pray that my sons will raise their children as I have raised them.

Sincerely,

PEGGY HACKETT

Not A Witch

Springs

October 23, 1997

Dear Editor,

Re: Witches, Schoolhouses

Thank you for providing an opportunity to clarify the following question: "Is an anthropologist who studies witchcraft the same thing as the witches she studies?"

On page I-3 of last week's edition of The Star, you announced the lecture-presentation on the subject of witchcraft in colonial East Hampton that my husband, Hugh R. King, and I performed for the East Hampton Historical Society last Saturday. I was described as an anthropologist and Wiccan witch.

To be called a witch can be a rather serious, even life-threatening insult, depending on what one thinks a witch is. I am certain that some well-intending person believed that saying I am a witch would enhance my credibility as an expert on the subject. That would be true if I were teaching people how to be witches.

It has the opposite effect when I am trying to enlighten people about the meaning of witchcraft as a social and historical phenomenon. I have long found it odd - and, frankly, irritating - that my colleagues who studied headhunters were never asked if they were headhunters while I am constantly asked if I am a witch, even by them! They should know better.

Such is the mystique of the witch, I guess. Others who are not aware of the research strategy of cultural anthropology cannot be expected to know better unless it is explained to them. I will explain. My discipline is cultural anthropology, our research methodology is participant observation. We participate in, as well a observe the lives of our subjects. We do not feel qualified to interpret other people's culture unless we have first grasped it from the insider's point of view. That is not the same thing as becoming indistinguishable from our subjects. The product of cultural anthropology is an authoritative interpretation of culture, not the transformation of the anthropologist.

It would have been more appropriate to mention the product of my research, my book about witchcraft, "Never Again the Burning Times; Paganism Revived." That is the basis of my authority to enlighten others on the subject. It is wrong to expect that one can learn what a head-hunter or Wiccan witch is by merely making the acquaintance of scholars on the subjects; one must make the acquaintance of their products.

What I know about witches is in the book and in my words when I speak about it. I am something else. I do many things, including teaching witchcraft and other topics in the fields of anthropology and sociology at Hofstra University. I am a qualified social scientist. I also teach French at Springs School. I am a qualified teacher, but I'm not French.

Sincerely,

LORETTA ORION

Hundreds showed up at Town Hall Friday for an emotionally charged, three-and-a-half-hour hearing on the future of ferries in East Hampton Town. It was one of the largest crowds to attend a public hearing in recent memory.

Many threw their support behind a proposed ban on car ferry terminals. But most were there in support of Capt. Paul Forsberg, who owns the only existing ferry in town, protesting proposed legislation that could take a serious bite out of his business.

By 10:30 a.m. not a single space remained in the Town Hall parking lot. Supporters of Mr. Forsberg and his Viking Fleet in Montauk carried signs reading "Save the Montauk Ferry" and passed out T-shirts with the same slogan as still more cars entered the lot.

Stream Of Cars

A few minutes into the hearing, with people spilling out of the Town Hall courtroom, into the hallway, and out the front door, the board decided to move the proceedings to the American Legion Hall in Amagansett to accommodate the overflowing crowd. The line of cars leaving Town Hall stretched without a break to the traffic light in Amagansett.

The proposed ferry laws were written this fall with help from Stop the Ferry, a Montauk-based group that two years ago was carry "Stop the Ferry" signs, handing out T-shirts, and collecting signatures to prevent a Montauk ferry link with the Connecticut casinos.

The new regulations would ban vehicle ferry terminals throughout the town (except at the state parkland at Napeague, where the town has no jurisdiction), limit the horsepower of passenger ferries in town waters, and create new parking requirements for passenger ferries and party boats.

Out One-Third

It is the last portion of the legislation that troubles Mr. Forsberg most. The code would call for one parking space for every three passengers on an excursion boat. A ferry would require one space for every four passengers multiplied by the number of trips it made per day.

Mr. Forsberg's Montauk-based Viking Ferry Lines offers passenger ferry service to Block Island and New London, Conn., whale watching cruises, fishing trips, and a gambling "Cruise to Nowhere." If Viking Ferry Lines is subjected to the new parking rules, Mr. Forsberg claims, his business will be cut back by a third.

"If these regulations go, Montauk will lose the whale watching boat," Mr. Forsberg said Friday. "The New London boat will go next."

An Overall Look

This summer the Town Planning Board looked at a 1996 site plan application for a retail store on Mr. Forsberg's property, which is on West Lake Drive. The board also had before it a 1994 application from the related Francarl Realty pertaining to a parking lot, and a seven-year-old site plan for Viking Dock repairs that had already been made under an emergency permit.

The board asked the chief building inspector, Fred Sellers, to look into the status of the various uses on the properties, to determine what was permitted or pre-existing and what wasn't.

If the uses conform to or pre-exist zoning law, as Mr. Forsberg says his ferry and excursion boats do, the application can proceed. If, on the other hand, the building inspector finds that he failed to obtain permission required for some uses, he will have to go through the applicaion process for those uses before proceeding with the original application.

To The Z.B.A.

Anything that is legally pre-existing or went through the proper permit process on the Forsberg properties would not be subject to the new zoning regulations, but any substantial changes in the future would be.

"No one is asking any questions about what I think of the Stop the Ferry proposal," Mr. Forsberg said. "Now they question my pre-existing status, which was already established in 1990."

He has asked the Town Board to withdraw the request to the building inspector and recognize his legally pre-existing status. "These regulations . . . are made to injure the Viking operation terribly."

The town and members of Stop the Ferry maintain this is not the case. Town Board members have offered their own opinions that the Viking operation is most likely pre-existing, but say the matter was raised by the Planning Board, passed on to the building inspector, and now must be decided or dismissed by the Town Zoning Board of Appeals.

Lawsuit Promised

The chairwoman of the Planning Board, Pat Mansir, issued a memo from the board last Thursday stating that it was unanimously in favor of a ban on vehicle ferries, but felt the proposed legislation was too restrictive.

At the hearing Friday, Ms. Mansir said, "I . . . in no way want legislation that will put a stranglehold on the much needed services Viking brings to Montauk."

"I'm a fighter, I had to be," Mr. Forsberg said Friday. "I'm going to take this to Federal Court if the town does not stop harassing me. This is not a threat, it's a promise," he said, then added to the roomful of people at the American Legion, "It bothers me to have to sue all of you out there who support me to prove that these people cannot do their job."

Blank Check

Richard Kahn, a member of Stop the Ferry and the first to speak Friday, caused an outcry among Mr. Forsberg's contingent when he announced that two people had yielded their allotted five minutes to him.

"Stop the Ferry has no problem with the existing ferry service to Block Island or New London," he said.

The group is opposed to any significant expansion of the business without the Planning Board making the proper determination that would be required for a special permit.

"Captain Forsberg is trying to hold this legislation hostage until the Town Board is ready to write him a blank check . . . the problem arises because of his desire to expand his operation without any restrictions."

Public Outcry

Mr. Kahn reminded people in the audience why the ferry issue became so heated in the first place.

In 1995 the Duryea family was reported to be in discussions with Cross Sound Ferry about bringing a ferry to their Fort Pond Bay property in Montauk. "The public outcry was immediate and clear," Mr. Kahn said. People looked at what had become of Orient Point on the North Fork and said, "'Do not let the same disaster descend on the South Fork.'"

Since then, the potential number of passengers generated by the Mashantucket Pequots' Foxwoods Casino and a brand new casino nearby, the Mohegan Sun, "has continued to accelerate," he said. Foxwoods has an average of 45,000 visitors a day and an annual revenue of $1.1 billion.

Ferry Pressure

A direct ferry link from Long Island to the new casino hasn't been developed yet, but the Pequots already have a high-speed ferry from Orient to New London, are building more, and are "looking to establish new ferry routes," according to Mr. Kahn. The New York Fast Ferry attempted to establish a run from downtown Manhattan to Sag Harbor and now has service from Manhattan to Greenport.

Stop the Ferry believes either situation or both would overtax the already burdened East Hampton road system, creating traffic nightmares and parking woes, and would be catastrophic for the South Fork's fragile environment and recreational resources. "This is a major threat to our way of life."

The decision the Town Board will have to make on some kind of ferry regulations is, said Mr. Kahn, "the most important facing any Town Board in the last 25 years."

Jet Propulsion

After Mr. Kahn spoke, the Town Board responded to audience members' cries that he had been given too much time and placed a strict five-minute limit, with no time sharing, on all other speakers. Some, like Bill Akin, the president of Concerned Citizens of Montauk, came back for a second turn at the podium to make their point.

Mr. Akin reported that the Pequots are building several high-speed ferries that could cross Long Island Sound in 30 minutes. According to a brochure put out by the Pequots, said Mr. Akin, the ferries have water-jet propulsion systems that discharge as much water as an Olympic-sized swimming pool would every 54 seconds as they speed over the water.

A Sea Jet Tri-Cat, like that the Pequots are building, is, he said, "the largest, fastest ferry in the United States." It can carry 300 people and go up to 47 knots.

"No one is studying the impact of the water jet propulsion system on flora and fauna or lobster pots for that matter," Mr. Akin said.

Cries Of Outrage

Mr. Akin and the parade of more than 40 speakers that followed were asked to sit down when their five minutes were up, but when Mr. Forsberg stood up to say his piece, he requested some additional time. "I've been building my business for 48 years," he said, adding that it would take him a lot more than five minutes to tell his story.

When Supervisor Cathy Lester denied his request, but told him he could return after everyone on the list had spoken, it was the closest thing to a riot that happened all day.

Members of the audience let out an audible cry of outrage. Mr. Forsberg's attorney, James T. Greenbaum of Montauk, stepped up to the podium to defend his client's right to free speech, but the captain of the Viking Fleet opted not to say anything until the end of the hearing.

Viking Defenders

Several speakers asked the Town Board to recognize the pre-existence of the Viking ferry and enter into negotiations with Mr. Forsberg over how to craft a law that keeps the big ferries out, but protects the one that's already there.

It was clear that the hearing had become a sort of trial on the merits of the Viking Fleet and on the right to operate a business as the owner saw fit to meet the demands of a changing society.

"Forsberg was responsible for putting Montauk on the map . . . I would like to see this part of history remain in Montauk untouched," said Fred E. Bird, who owns a party boat business in Montauk.

Linda Prado called the ferry service to New London "a lifeline to the outside world," and Lauralee Duffin of Montauk asked the Town Board to "give the Montauk Viking Fleet the opportunity to explain what they want."

First Traffic Jam

"I don't think Paul Forsberg could thank you enough for helping him to reduce the competition," Rob Rosen of Montauk told the board. Mr. Rosen said he had helped build some fast ferries and suggested the town learn a little bit more about them before adopting the legislation on the table.

With the new regulations, Mr. Rosen said, the town would be "putting a man's only livelihood in jeopardy." He said a business that stayed the same for 20 years wouldn't be in business anymore.

"Every time a problem arises it's the business community that has to pay," said Tom Brennan, the owner of the Blue Haven Motel. He contended that Viking hasn't reached its "ceiling" yet. The operation, he said, has plenty of parking and has never created a traffic problem. "The only time I ever saw Paul Forsberg cause a traffic jam was today."

Imminent Threat

As much praise as people had for Viking, there were also words of caution about what could happen to the town if ferry operations were allowed to go unchecked and regulations were not adopted.

"We need rules and regulations to protect this place," said Rav Friedel of Montauk. "These people can sell out to people who don't care anything about us."

Larry Smith also supported the legislation, saying, "The threat is real, it's great, and it's imminent."

Loretta DeRose, who owns Montauk's Snug Harbor motel, said the harbor had lost "several marina customers because they can't handle the traffic anymore. Increasing traffic to Montauk is going to be a detriment to every single business in Montauk," she said.

By Car Or Boat

Robert DeLuca, the executive director of the Group for the South Fork, threw in his vote in for the legislation as well. He pointed to the recently completed transportation study as proof that serious rules were needed if East Hampton was to deal with the traffic demands of the future.

Only a handful of people turned out for a public hearing on the transportation study, which recommended a prohibition on new ferries.

Marshall Helfand spoke against such strict prohibitions then and again on Friday, suggesting that the best thing the town could have done for traffic was build a Route 27 bypass. That chance was lost and now the town is dealing with the consequences, he said, adding that a ban on ferries would be another mistake.

General Complaints

Mr. Forsberg's attorney, Mr. Greenbaum, urged other business owners to recognize that the issue wasn't just about his client. "Similar regulations are being considered for delis," he said.

The message the board is sending, he said, is that "if you don't fit into a certain category of people this town is going to discriminate against you."

Charlie Grimes, who owns a gravel business in Wainscott, and Pat Grignon, whose family owns the now-defunct Woodrow's Cottages in Montauk, agreed. When the town decided to make "his use a use" in the code, Mr. Grimes was asked to fill out an application and come to a public hearing. He did and found a group of Wainscott residents there to protest a business he had already been running for year.

Land Of No

Ms. Grignon's family lost the ability to operate their motel on South Endicott Place in Montauk, and blame the town for putting them out of business and forcing them almost to the point of bankruptcy. "I am here to witness for you," she said to Mr. Forsberg. "I urge the business people of Montauk to wake up and see what is happening to them."

"The Land of No," is what Stuart Vorpahl of Amagansett called East Hampton Towns.

After dozens of people aired their opinions about the Viking ferries and the town's proposed laws, Mr. Forsberg finally took the microphone in front of the room. By then, only half the crowd was left, but most already knew the story he would tell.

Viking Saga

"It's a long story," he said. "My whole future depends on this." He related how he and his father and brother had built the original dock by hand before there was electricity or a road to Montauk Harbor in 1952. "We cut the timbers with a two-man saw," he said. In 1955, he said, his father began running a ferry to Block Island and fishing trips in between.

Gradually the business grew. The Viking Star was built in 1970. In 1977 the Forsbergs introduced the 140-foot Viking Starfish, the world's largest party fishing boat, with 2,640 horsepower coming out of two Mercedes-Benz engines.

In '82, Viking began running a route to New London, but soon ran into trouble with Cross Sound Ferry, for stepping into its turf. After a $70,000 lawsuit, Viking won the lawsuit. "Little Viking beat down big Cross Sound," Captain Forsberg said.

In turn, he found Cross Sound in his home turf in 1992, when the big ferry line and the Montauk Chamber proposed a ferry to the old Promised Land fish factory at Napeague State Park.

New Passenger Ferry

In opposition he designed a 25-car ferry and presented his plans to the Chamber. "I thought that was the right thing to do at the time," he said.

The ferry was being built in Florida by the end of '93, but in '94, he said, he decided to make it a passenger ferry instead. That ferry, a 400-passenger boat with anti-seasickness and anti-rolling technology, will replace the Viking Starliner on the Montauk to Block Island route. The Starliner can seat 350, but often carries less. It is one of the oldest boats in the fleet and needs replacing, said Captain Forsberg.

The new boat can go four knots faster and take 15 to 20 minutes off the trip to Block Island. Mr. Forsberg told the Town Board he does not plan to have more runs per day, but only wants to have a safer, more comfortable boat that can meet peak demands.

Next, Negotiation

After Mr. Forsberg spoke, Mr. Kahn again took the podium and suggested leaving most of the legislation as is, but taking out the parking requirements for excursion boats for now. Others too, had urged the town to sit down, not only with Mr. Forsberg, but with owners of other marinas and party boat operations to work out a fair parking plan for Montauk Harbor.

Though the hearing had been contentious at times it ended on a conciliatory tone, with Mr. Forsberg and the Town Board beginning what could be a series of calmer discussions. Faced with so much support for Mr. Forsberg and so many concerns about the impact of the legislation, town officials appeared ready to head back to the drawing board with the ferry laws and to continue talking with Mr. Forsberg.

"There's room for negotiation, absolutely," Supervisor Lester said Monday. The record will be kept open for written comments until Friday, Nov. 7.

Henry Uihlein saw the light last May 16. Until then, he said, he had always been a happy-go-lucky guy, a bachelor slightly in awe of others his own age who seemed to have accepted adulthood without a fight, and not sure he ever would.

But mortality appeared before him that day between Montauk and Block Island - in a small boat tossed violently by immense waves generated by a surprise spring storm.

A Montauk kid whose parents owned a small marina, a veteran boater and fisherman who had spent his life on the water, Mr. Uihlein thought he was going to die. The same storm, he would learn later, drowned a fisherman, Norman Edwards, a few miles to the west.

Part Two

This was the first half of a two-part revelation, he told a recent visitor to his cramped and cluttered office at Uihlein's Marina and Boat Rental. The old pink neon above the door places the white office building, with its blue trim and big orange Gulf sign, in another age.

The second, more profound part came later that evening after Mr. Uihlein was rescued by the Coast Guard. Terry Field called to say she was pregnant and planned to have his baby.

"It hit me like a ton of bricks. It opened my eyes. I knew Norman Edwards had died at the same hour I was out in the storm. If I'd died, I would never have known I was a father, that I had a son," Mr. Uihlein said. The impish enthusiasm faded from his face only momentarily.

The Reason Why

Left out of his account of May 16 was the reason why he had been out on the water in the first place: He had gone to the aid of a friend's daughter and school friends, overdue on a sailboat from Block Island.

Mr. Uihlein, who often helps people on land as well as water, is scheduled to receive the Montauk Chamber of Commerce's "Person of the Year" award tonight at Hewitt's Ruschmeyer's restaurant during a 6 to 10 p.m. dinner.

His father and mother came to Montauk "on an 'Indian' motorcycle, when they were dating in 1925," he related, and later aboard the Long Island Rail Road's Fisherman's Special, which cost $1.50 and delivered anglers to the charter and party boats docked on Fort Pond Bay at the time. They camped at Hither Hills.

Several years after his family's land near Jamaica Bay was condemned to be used for Idlewild (later John F. Kennedy) Airport, his father bought a piece of property down by Montauk Harbor, where he and his friends built a motel. Later, the elder Uihlein purchased a stretch of beach on the harbor for use by the motel's guests.

"My father bought a few skiffs for the motel guests. They were pulled up on the beach. Where the Viking Dock is was a beach, too. There was an island between the Coast Guard station and Tuma's Dock that appeared at low tide. It had clams on it, and we'd swim to it."

Uihlein Sr. had come to Montauk because of fishing. Henry Jr. was the youngest of five children, the only son, and the only sibling to come east with his parents.

"My mother wanted to call it the Flamingo Motel, so it was, and then it was the West Lake Motel, but everyone called it Uihlein's."

Boyhood On The Docks

Charlotte Uihlein still runs the motel. She was born Charlotte Jarmain, the sister of Franklin Jarmain, who owned Montauk's Wave Crest Motel and whose late wife, Lucille, headed the Montauk Chamber of Commerce for years.

Growing up, Henry Jr. spent all his time around the docks. "I was always there," he said. "I fished constantly. How could you not? Mom and I would go on the Viking all the time."

"I remember it like it was yesterday - the excitement of waking up early, having breakfast at the Viking Grill, the wooden Viking boat, Les Behan's Viking Queen, and the Joshua B - it sank off Block Island. The passengers got off."

Fleet Of Skiffs

"Back then, the codfish, all you wanted, were by the bell buoy," he said. Father and son would often fish by that buoy, a few hundred feet outside the Montauk Harbor inlet.

"Mom would go down to the jetties and flick the car lights when dinner was ready. I remember around Thanksgiving it would be snowing. The fishing was excellent. It was great."

Visitors wanted to rent the skiffs, and Mr. Uihlein's father had 24 by the early '60s.

"They'd all be out. The porgy fishing was great. He had mostly black customers. He would open at 3 in the morning. You don't have diehard fishermen like that any more."

Waterskiing

Mr. Uihlein said he'd seen a tremendous change in Montauk sport fishing beginning in the late '70s and early '80s. "People didn't want to fish all day. They wanted to do more things in one day. It was that, and the fishing began to slack off. The half-day trips started."

As a young man in the mid-60s, when Uihlein's began offering fiberglass power boats, waterskiing in Lake Montauk became a passion. After graduating from East Hampton High School in 1969, Mr. Uihlein decided to pursue the sport at the University of Tampa, the only school he could find, he said, that considered it a collegiate sport.

He skied competitively until an injury ended his chances. He earned a bachelor of science degree and went on to earn a master's from New York University in physical education.

Coaching Career

Then he began to teach, a career his parents supported despite the implications for the family business.

"I love my parents for letting me do what I wanted. They never stopped me. People would say [of the marina], 'All this will be yours some day,' and I didn't know what they meant. I was never pressured by my parents even if it meant not carrying on the business. It was okay."

"Now I'm proud of what I'm doing by choice."

Mr. Uihlein wanted to be a coach, and had a brief high school coaching career in Florida that ended with a bout of encephalitis. Later, from 1976 to 1982, he coached basketball, golf, and girl's softball at Shelter Island High School while teaching physical education and health and serving as the school's athletic director.

All His Energies

He loved teaching, he said, but felt torn because the marina had grown so much. By then it had a winter boat-hauling and storage service, using a small railway and an old dump truck with a boom mounted in front.

Henry Uihlein Sr. had died in 1977. "I wasn't here, and it was busy," said his son. "When I left education, I put all my energies into the marina."

Mr. Uihlein's energy is legendary. There is no such thing as a one-on-one conversation at the marina. A rental transaction is interrupted by a lesson in sparkplug replacement, which, in turn, joins an overheard remark about the fluke fishing, which proceeds until the rental client speaks up and the U.P.S. man arrives.

Porgy And Bass

It all gets done, however, with a frenetic humor and sincerity that quells impatience, and, in fact, often entertains.

This has been especially true since the host of LTV's "Lenny DeFina Show" has been working at Uihlein's Marina and Boat Rental. "Lenny's funny," said Mr. Uihlein. "He cares. He ridicules me all the time, and I laugh."

Mr. Uihlein himself claims to have had no theatrical experience other than playing Flute the bellows-mender in a high school production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." This might come as a surprise to Montaukers who saw him portray a mermaid in Uihlein's first entry in the Montauk Friends of Erin St. Patrick's Day parade, and later a striped bass in the "Porgy and Bass" float.

Community Service

At tonight's ceremonies, he is being recognized for his service, often far behind the scenes, to the community.

"I coached minor league baseball in Montauk, and I was a deacon of the Montauk Community Church. Reverend Howard Friend, Hank Zebrowski, Dave Webb Sr. - they did so much for the youth. I would give motorcycle rides at the church fairs. I've always been involved. I love to be able to say yes."

In 1987 Mr. Uihlein joined the East Hampton Kiwanis Club at the suggestion of a boyhood friend, James Nicoletti.

"They have no other interest than helping people," he said of the service group.

He put the philosophy into action at the marina in 1992 with a fair and fishing tournament to benefit the families of two young fishermen lost at sea, and raised $15,000. Other benefits have followed.

The family marina is 40 years old this year. Much of the time, said Mr. Uihlein, things have been hard. There has been tragedy - five men drowned from a rented skiff in 1963 - and plenty of dark humor, like the time a family rented a boat and drove it onto the rocks at the Montauk Lighthouse, thinking it was a restaurant.

There have been nail-biting times, too, like when Kathleen Turner and her husband, Jay Weiss, went out on the water to celebrate their anniversary and got lost in the fog.

The Date

The marina that began as a beach with a few rowboats has grown to a full-service establishment that rents large and small fishing boats as well as water skis, kayaks, surfboards, sailboards, and personal watercraft, commonly called Jet Skis.

The phone rang and Mr. Uihlein spoke to a customer about hauling his boat for the winter. Two young friends waited for an audience. Mr. DeFina slid by and told his boss, as he hung up the phone, that he shouldn't hide his bald spot under his hat.

"I believe in family, I guess," Mr. Uihlein told his visitor. "I always have. The baby's due date is Dec. 2."

The incumbent Southampton Town Board members, Patrick Heaney and Martha Rogers, Republicans with Conservative endorsement, have been outgoing and hard-working members of the board. Ms. Rogers has paid her dues on such issues as the proposed community pool; Mr. Heaney has played a big role in devising ways to raise money for open space. They have earned re-election.

There is, however, a dark horse candidate on the Democratic and Southampton Party lines, who seems able to make an excellent contribution. He is Wayne Grothe, a bayman whose mixture of common sense and thoughtfulness is impressive, although his call for a moratorium on development is excessive.

We have not found any compelling reasons to think that the Independence candidates for the Town Board, Ronald Campsey and Kenneth Drange, or Mr. Grothe's running mate, Bonnie Fuchs, or Daniel Rudansky, who is only on the Preservation line, would do any better than the incumbents.

Although The Star is identified primarily with East Hampton Town, its editorial staff has made a serious effort to keep informed of the issues in the Southampton election. We also held endorsement interviews in the major Southampton races, with the exception of Town Justice.

In some ways, the election in Southampton is even more unsettling than East Hampton's. On the one hand, grass-roots politics seems to be taking hold and bringing out candidates from all walks of life. That's a plus. On the other, it is sometimes hard to find cohesiveness on issues among candidates running on the same line.

Siv Cedering, a tall, striking woman with an abundance of reddish-blond hair and a slight Swedish accent, led a recent visitor to a sunroom that doubles as a painting studio in her large, comfortable house in Amagansett. Afternoon autumn light poured through the windows.

A series of paintings, some in progress and some finished, leaned against the furniture. They are part of a series to be shown at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle next year in an exhibit called "The American Dream."

Ms. Cedering is something of a Renaissance woman. She has published 17 books, including two novels, six children's books, and nine collections of poetry, and composed the music for a series of Swedish television programs based on one of the children's books.

The Arctic Circle

Her paintings have been seen in local galleries including the Elaine Benson Gallery, and in Colorado and New Mexico.

The cinematographer and director Sven Nykvist, who is perhaps best known for his work with Ingmar Bergman, made a film based on one of Ms. Cedering's novels, "Oxen." The film, "The Ox," was nominated for an Academy Award in 1992.

Siv Cedering was born in a town called (tm)verkalix, on the Arctic Circle some 600 miles north of Stockholm.

"There were about 30 houses there. It was a very small town, and the winters were very long. It looked very much like Vermont. There were lots of rivers, low mountains."

Westward Ho

She was 14 when her family "packed up everything and shipped it to California" in 1953, to live in San Francisco. Her father, an independent businessman who designed and built houses, "felt somewhat hampered by certain of the rules in Sweden," she said.

"Your vision of the place you came from changes when you come to a new country. It becomes a kind of dream. But there is also the idea of 'the American dream,' the parts of the country that have vanished."

"And that's what these paintings are about," Ms. Cedering said, indicating her recent works, several of which portray sweeping landscapes rendered in muted colors.

The paintings have a winning simplicity; they are smooth-surfaced, and the landscapes seem to have arisen from the imagination as much as from observation.

"Poetry Saved Me"

At the precocious age of 15, Ms. Cedering, who had been writing poetry since she was 7, was invited to join a San Francisco poetry workshop, and her work began to attract some attention.

Meanwhile, her parents had separated. Her father returned to Sweden. "In a way, the culture shock involved in coming to the United States was too much for him," she said.

The separation made things difficult. "We were suddenly very poor. It was not a happy time. But poetry saved me."

Ms. Cedering wrote her earliest poems in Swedish but switched to English in her teens. She remembers jotting poetry in her notebook on the 16-hour train ride from (tm)verkalix to Stockholm, and on the ship that brought the family to the United States.

"I think I was in love with poetry, with the music of the words. Everything I wrote rhymed then."

Always Working

Now, she said, she writes poems "in big lumps," leaving time for her other interests.

"I like creating things," she said, "and I don't like limiting myself to one form of creation. I'll work on a screenplay, then music, then children's writing, and of course painting."

"I have a lot of things that I'd like to do, and each day I decide what I'll work on. I'm always working on something."

Her most recent project is a long poem about Picasso's model Marie Therese, an idea that had been in the writer's mind for 15 years before she sat down and wrote 50 stanzas. She has since revised the work to 24.

Swedish Grant

Three years ago, Ms. Cedering won a substantial vote of confidence from the Swedish Writers Union, a grant of $55,000, spread over five years. "In Sweden they acknowledge the importance of books," she said, "far more so than here."

"To borrow a book in a library in Sweden is free, of course, but for each book that is borrowed, a few cents go to the author and a few cents go to state writers' funds." That money, she explained, is then distributed to writers in the form of grants.

"In America," said Ms. Cedering, "poets read poets, but for the most part ordinary people know movie and television actors. In Sweden, and in other countries, the arts are part of the fabric of the culture."

"Ordinary Swedes - people like many in my father's generation, who may have had only a sixth-grade education - nonetheless know a lot about books from the time they are young. And not just Swedish writers, but writers from different countries."

After graduating from her California high school, the 17-year-old Ms. Cedering returned to Sweden for a visit to her father. It was at this time that she discovered she was pregnant.

"I went to an abortion clinic, but changed my mind. I decided I did not want an abortion. In Sweden, abortion is legal. But I decided I couldn't destroy a baby and create poems."

Her father wanted her to stay in Sweden, and offered to help care for the baby, said Ms. Cedering, but she decided instead to go back to America, alone.

Teen-Age Pregnancy

"I went to New York. After three weeks there, I had $12 in my pocket. I would apply for jobs and they would laugh at me - I was seven months pregnant."

She supported herself for a time by giving piano lessons.

"My mother didn't want me to come to San Francisco unless I got married. This was the '50s, remember, so there was great shame attached to being single and pregnant."

Fortunately, she had met a sympathetic couple on the ship from Sweden and was able to stay with them until a few months after the baby was born.

Ms. Cedering's daughter, a producer and voice-over actress, lives in Los Angeles.

First Marriage

"I think that experience gave me strength," she said. "So many people say, well, how can I be a poet and a single mother and support myself and my child - and of course I was 17. I'd been offered a full scholarship to the University of California at Berkeley, and there was just no way I was able to take that offer."

Ms. Cedering married not long after. Her husband was a computer specialist whose work necessitated frequent moves. The family lived in Washington, D.C., Westchester County, and Massapequa.

She has another daughter and a son from that marriage, which ended in divorce in 1982. She married the writer and teacher David Swickard the following year.

College Teaching

Despite what American academics might consider a limited formal education, Ms. Cedering has taught at several colleges and universities, including the University of Pittsburgh and Long Island University, thanks to her impressive list of publications and endorsements from fellow writers.

Of her poetry, Artur Lundkvist, chairman of the committee that awards the Nobel Prize in literature, has written, "One does not have to read far before one is hit by the originality of this poetry, the unusual physical directness, the sensual presence as well as the mythological."

Free Spirit

She is at work now, along with the paintings and poetry, on a brand-new project: a series of mixed-media "poem-sculptures" in which she is finding great joy and excitement.

"Creative people should not be constrained by artificial boundaries, such as age," said Ms. Cedering. "I have an uncle who started writing in his 70s; he has published three books."

"I always want to keep the feeling of having that freedom to explore. The desire is simply to see how much I can do. To get some of that music in my head out."

"When I teach poetry, for example, I think I am teaching not so much craft as the freedom to create whatever you want."

The obvious choice for Southampton Town Justice is Deborah E. Kooperstein, a Democrat-Independence incumbent with an impressive record. Paul H. Smith, the Republican incumbent, who has been on the bench for more than 30 years, is joined this year on the ticket by Barbara L. Wilson, who has waged a vigorous campaign and has broad support in the law-enforcement community based on her background as a prosecutor in the Suffolk District Attorney's office. Since we do not believe it is appropriate for judicial candidates to accept the conditions set for endorsement by the Right To Life Party, we therefore give the second nod to Paul Bailey Jr., Justice Kooperstein's Democrat-Independence running mate, whose wide range of law-enforcement and judicial experience make him a good choice.

"If you've got an act,

I've got a show,

Give me a call,

And you're ready to go!

On the Lenny . . .

The Lenny DeFina Show!"

- Theme song from "The

Lenny DeFina Variety Show"

Lenny DeFina was a young comic and singer living with the comedian Don Rickles in California, trying to break into show business, when he received word that the manager who was guiding his career had died of a heart attack.

Mr. Rickles pulled his young charge aside and offered him some free advice. "He told me to go home, get a regular job, get married, and lead a normal life," Mr. DeFina said. "He told me trying to be an entertainer was a tough business."

Worked As Chef

Although Mr. DeFina had already secured a role on "Two Top Bananas," a television comedy starring Mr. Rickles and Don Adams that aired on the Home Box Office network for two seasons, and had performed in hotels in Las Vegas with the likes of the Lennon Sisters, he took his mentor's advice.

The Brooklyn-born Mr. DeFina moved back east to Montauk, where his family had summered for years. He owned Rocking Wells restaurant in East Hampton for a time and worked as a chef at others before becoming manager of Uihlein's Marina in Montauk, a job he still holds.

But the show business bug would not go away. "I've always wanted to be a star," he said. "Even as a child, I was the class clown, the head of my church choir, an altar boy. I liked being in the limelight. No, I didn't like it, I loved it."

While watching a steady stream of tell-all talk shows that now dominate the air waves, Mr. DeFina was inspired. "I said to myself I could do a better show," he said.

Johnny's His Hero

So starting in March, using a cramped set at LTV Studios in East Hampton, Mr. DeFina has tried to revive the lost art of live television. The result is "The Lenny DeFina Variety Show," an unintentionally campy program that airs on Channel 27, East Hampton's public access station, and includes a guest list of jugglers, actors, and people who want to show off their pets' tricks. Mr. DeFina finds his guests by advertising "from Manhattan to Montauk" and has over 40 people waiting in the wings to appear.

"There are no television shows that take you away from reality," he said before taping his program last Thursday. "I want to give people a chance to kick back, smile, and enjoy other people's talent."

The performer said he wants to be like Ed Sullivan, or better yet, Johnny Carson, "my hero." Mr. DeFina even performs a monologue filled with birthday wishes, Henny Youngman jokes, and small talk from his desk in front of a gold tinsel curtain. "The corniness? That's just me," he said while acknowledging that he was probably born in the wrong era.

"I was definitely a goof-ball kid," he said. "My friends were listening to The Stones and The Beatles, and I was listening to Dean Martin." In fact, it is easy to picture him hanging around with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Mr. Martin like another member of the Rat Pack.

Fan Of Liberace

As a teenager, he "loved Liberace" and used to visit nursing homes, where he would entertain the residents by singing and playing the accordion, one of five instruments he plays, along with piano, clarinet, saxophone, and harmonica. Later, while spending summers in Montauk, Mr. DeFina would take his band to the Montauk Yacht Club, where he would sing covers of Tom Jones's songs. "I'd wear about nine gold chains," he recalled.

The key element for his show, he said, is it "has to have music." And music there is. With a camerawoman calling, "Quiet on the set, please! Five, four, three, two, one . . .," Mr. DeFina took his cue and belted out a spirited rendition of "Just a Gigolo."

Dressed in a bronze double-breasted suit with a floral tie and crisp white shirt that accented his deep tan and his gold pinky ring, Mr. DeFina looked the part. He flashed his pearly whites and tossed his perfectly coiffed head, shamelessly hamming it up for the cameras that would beam his face into the homes of viewers he hopes are watching on Channel 27.

His band is led by Paul Gene, a keyboard player, who does his best to imitate Paul Schaefer, David Letterman's bandleader sidekick. The group also includes Paul Chapin on drums and John Pinto on saxophone.

Mr. DeFina also ends each show with the theme song he wrote and tries to schedule at least one other musical guest. Past performers have included the jazz bassist Percy Heath, the drummer Jim Chapin, and the cabaret singer Bonnie Lee Sanders.

For this show, Mr. DeFina enlisted one of his cameramen, Danny Catalano, who also moonlights as an Elvis impersonator when he is not working as a chef in Montauk. A guitarist and singer, Mr. Catalano settled for a cover of The Beatles' "Come Together."

The program, scheduled to air before Halloween, also had as guests Officer Christopher Virga of the East Hampton Town Police Department, who gave tips on Halloween safety, and "The Hampton Bag Lady," played by Stefanie Brussel, who tailored her weekly bargain-hunting segment to finding inexpensive costumes.

Before going on, Mr. Virga pointed to the dress uniform he was wearing. "This makes it awkward for me," he said. "We're good friends and we heckle each other all the time. But I can't fire back."

Easy On Friend

Mr. DeFina was easy on his friend, although he joked beforehand that he would introduce him as a captain to "mess him up with the Police Department." Don Torr, the owner of the Crow's Nest restaurant in Montauk, and another friend and guest, did not get off so easy. Demonstrating his ability to blow intricate bubbles - that's right bubbles - Mr. Torr was met with "You must spend a lot of time alone," from his host.

Mr. DeFina has been sending tapes of his show to network television and film companies, hoping someone will see the merit of it "and perfect it" for wider broadcast. For now, he is working on the possibility of moving the show to a larger studio at LTV. "It might give people something to do on a Friday night," he said. A Christmas special is also a possibility.

The show airs at 8:15 p.m. on Thursdays and again at 9 p.m. on Fridays "right after the Town Board meeting," Mr. DeFina said. It is also broadcast over Cablevision in Riverhead at 1:30 p.m. on Thursdays. The potential audience, according to Mr. DeFina, is 65,000 viewers.

Mr. DeFina said he never gets nervous before going on the air. But the night before is another matter. "I get so excited, I can't even sleep," he said.

In assessing the East Hampton candidates - incumbent Democratic Supervisor Cathy Lester, Town Councilman Thomas Knobel, the Republican challenger, and Capt. Milton Miller, a Bonac-against-the-world campaigner on the Independence ticket - voters should consider the long haul. In Southampton, too, the real issue is coping with change.

East Hampton is no longer a simple small town; it will have to meet myriad challenges if it is to retain its character, protect its environment, and promote its economic health. And it will have to try, and try again, to deliver municipal services efficiently and compassionately as the environment and the residents require.

Both Supervisor Lester and Councilman Knobel are workhorses. Mr. Knobel may have the edge in getting things done and administrative ability. Since his term as Councilman is ending, the Town Board will lose his energy and ability if he is not elected as Supervisor. That is unfortunate.

Ms. Lester has the edge on social services and the environment, but she has dug in her heels under Republican attack, becoming unnecessarily defensive and showing little talent for negotiation. Mr. Knobel, on the other hand, has some of his priorities skewed. He puts financial considerations over the environment in sorting out the recycling and composting programs and he doesn't seem to give the broader implications of what he advocates as much consideration as the immediate goal.

We have editorialized previously that the wresting of jurisdiction from the Zoning Board of Appeals by the Town Trustees, which Mr. Knobel is spearheading, would be a mistake. And both candidates show dogmatic sides.

On the other hand, we prefer Mr. Knobel's insistence that the town has to take a leadership role in finding locations for what he calls "grocery stores." Ms. Lester's point of view that the Bistrian land north of the Amagansett business area should be kept in agriculture and not become an extension of that hamlet's commercial core is off base.

If the two-year war on the Town Board could be put behind it, and if Ms. Lester were given more cooperation, she might be able to fulfill the promise for which she was elected two years ago. We admire many things about Mr. Knobel, but prefer her commitment to an idealistic view of what the town can and should do.

East Enders have a deserved reputation for being independent voters. For the strict partisans among us, of course, the choices in the election this year are as easy as always. For the rest, however, Tuesday's balloting is fraught with difficult decisions.

Almost all the candidates have positive as well as negative attributes. While the perception of character is a significant consideration, judgments about how to vote may depend more than usual on which issues the voter considers primary.

In East Hampton, for example, strong opinions about the persistent Town Airport controversy may be the only issue that certain voters will consider in pulling a lever for Town Supervisor. Others may be guided by the costs of garbage disposal. This isn't the best way to figure out who should be elected. In Southampton Town, among the overriding issues are a proposed community pool, the future of the Bridgehampton Race Circuit, and whether the town should adopt a ward system of voting. Feelings run hot.