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Columnists

Gristmill: The Great Ape

Gorilla Grodd lives.

Sep 11, 2025
The Mast-Head: King Clam

The town trustees’ clam contest is a lovely event. But where do the giants come from?

Sep 11, 2025
The Shipwreck Rose: Sad Disco

Last week I came across something new and interesting on Facebook for the first time in years.

Sep 11, 2025
Gristmill: Ad Sick

Divorced from reality, sanity, and the actual mechanics of driving, the new car commercials are as depressing as they are slick.

Sep 4, 2025
The Mast-Head: Home With a Sting

A reminder of how wasps like old boats.

Sep 4, 2025
The Shipwreck Rose: On a Clear Day

Tumbleweed Tuesday was the best day of the year, weather-wise. Of course, I am prone to such pronouncements. I can’t help it.

Sep 4, 2025
Gristmill: A Fan’s Lament

Dreams of tennis, yearnings for Queens.

Aug 28, 2025
The Mast-Head: Horn Summer

Horns beget more horns, and, where once they were rarely used, they are now a near-constant Main Street intrusion.

Aug 28, 2025
The Shipwreck Rose: Home Alone

All of a sudden the nest is empty, and it’s just me rattling around and opening the refrigerator door and wondering if I need to cook something for dinner or if I should just have Stoned Wheat Crackers and cheese.

Aug 28, 2025
Gristmill: Well Run, Milady

Camaraderie and collegiality at the Ellen’s Run 5K in Southampton.

Aug 21, 2025
The Mast-Head: On the Water Again

Where did all the boaters go?

Aug 21, 2025
The Shipwreck Rose: All Quiet

A strange scene in D.C., where National Guard members roam.

Aug 21, 2025
Gristmill: Bird Brains

When animals send a message — of annoyance, of need.

Aug 14, 2025
The Mast-Head: Oh, Deer

It turns out that deer have a preference for native plants and will clear these out, allowing invasives to take over.

Aug 14, 2025
The Shipwreck Rose: Under the Trees

Wandering up and down Main Street on my nightly perambulations with my dog, I visit familiar tree friends, and even address them out loud.

Aug 14, 2025
Gristmill: Dylan at the Beach

A fine, if pricey, time at the redone Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh.

Aug 7, 2025
The Mast-Head: Shade Tree Mechanics

With help from YouTube, I solve problems with my Toyota Tundra myself, albeit very, very slowly.

Aug 7, 2025
The Shipwreck Rose: Comforters

Decorating a bedroom is one of the pleasanter chores of parenthood, and it occurs to me this is probably the last time I’ll have the privilege.

Aug 7, 2025
Gristmill: Local Hero

Out of shape? Getting older? A little rain? No matter, showing up for Jordan’s Run is always worth the effort.

Jul 31, 2025
The Mast-Head: Blue Spaces

I have taken note of a science article about the benefit of “blue” places, like oceans, bays, ponds, and rivers.

Jul 31, 2025
The Shipwreck Rose: Lost in the Supermarket

It’s my belief that the cashiers at this one supermarket — as at most groceries and gourmet marts in our neighborhood — are only mirroring the incivility of many of the customers.

Jul 31, 2025
Gristmill: Turning It Over

Once more unto the broken-down car.

Jul 24, 2025
The Mast-Head: Nature, One Step at a Time

Among the many community groups hereabout I admire, the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society stands out for its uniqueness of purpose.

Jul 24, 2025
The Shipwreck Rose: Stairway to Heaven

We are somewhat view-starved in 2025, having spent 100 years and more cluttering up the joint with signage, driveway gates, ever-higher houses, powerlines, and Green Giant arborvitae.

Jul 24, 2025
Congress Should Stand Up for Itself

If Nick LaLota is not willing to speak up for Congress, he should look for another job.

Jul 17, 2025
Gristmill: After Elmore

Anthony Lane envy in a fellow crime fiction fan.

Jul 17, 2025
On Noise, Homeowners Should Be on the Hook, Too

East Hampton Village is on the right track to target noise from landscaping equipment, but it is wrong in its way of going about it.

Jul 17, 2025
The Mast-Head: Summer Jobs

My own summer jobs history provides a look at just a few of the roles a young person can find on the South Fork — and the memories they create.

Jul 17, 2025
The Shipwreck Rose: Into the Sunset

My brave friend Randy Hoffman, who I met in 2017 in the back of an ambulance when I joined the East Hampton Village Ambulance Association, has died.

Jul 17, 2025
Gristmill: Fool for Fitness

They say walking’s the best thing for you. But if it replaces daily runs, are you old?

Jul 10, 2025