LETTERS: Lindsay, Brentwood school house and more

At least he gets

an 'A' for honesty

If you are accurate in reporting comments made by Suffolk County Legislature Presiding Officer William Lindsay ["Bodkin to be aide in legislature," News, Jan. 6], we must give him an "A" for honesty and an "F" for good government - or at least for public relations.

Apparently, when Christopher Bodkin lost re-election to Islip's Town Board, Lindsay hired him as a legislative aide whose duties "have not yet been determined." More significant was Lindsay's stated reason for the hiring: "Very honestly, to take care of a Democrat who lost their job."

Simply put, that stinks. Multiply that by hundreds of patronage jobs in dozens of governmental entities. This is a glaring, arrogant showing of why our taxes are out of sight.

Joseph A. Bollhofer

St. JamesAnother LI jewel

worth saving

Regarding the editorial about preserving Long Island's historic structures ["Save our Island's precious jewels," Opinion, Dec. 31], I would suggest that one of the most precious jewels of our Island was overlooked.

I am referring to the Orson Fowler octagonal building and original Modern Times School House built in 1857 in Brentwood. It became that planned utopian community's first one-room public school house.

The building serves as a constant reminder to former employees of Brentwood schools of the "dream deferred" of restoration and preservation. After years of false starts, controversy and finger-pointing still stand between the dream and the reality. Long Island may one day have to bear witness, with Brentwood, to the loss of yet another of its uniquely precious jewels.

John M. Sherin

JerichoPast and future kept

the old-fashioned way

I am a big fan of handwriting and color-coding in both my personal and professional daily/weekly appointments, and like Paula Ganzi Licata, have avoided BlackBerrys and other PDAs for some time ["Life-At-A-Glance," Opinion, Jan. 9].

At times, I also may look back in previous years' calendars at life experiences, both glorious and tragic.

When my husband, Robert, survived 9/11 I drew in an American flag and wrote Yippee! with many exclamation points, thankful that he escaped and managed to make it home on that fateful day.

On July 1, 2009, I sadly wrote in "Rob is gone" as he abruptly passed after 21/2 years of perseverance and enduring five neurosurgeries for a malignant brain tumor.

I too look at 2010 At-A-Glance with the imagination and anticipation of my future and that of our two adolescents. Though the extreme feeling of loss will never really disappear, the love and laughter of family and friends will help us to get through the blank white pages of years to come.

Paula Okin

Manhasset Hills