Letters

Corson’s description of people who try to prevent animal torture as “terrorists” is also nonsense. The only ones terrorized in the lobster industry are the lobsters themselves.
Gary Loewenthal
Falls Church, VA

What kind of person would want to eat something that died an agonizing death? I stopped eating lobster long ago, after I took the lid off a steaming pot and saw the animals’ flailing claws and arched backs. I applaud any effort that educates the public about the price paid to put food on our tables. Someday we will realize that we are not the only sensate creatures on the planet, we no longer must gather food for survival with total disregard for our methods, and there is plenty to eat without causing needless suffering to other living beings in the process.
Lenna Warner
Rockport

RUDE AWAKENING
Rude? Ah, no. Bostonians are not rude [“I, Causticus,” July]. We leave that to the New Yorkers.

Bostonians could be described as aloof, emotionally reserved, and respectful of the privacy of others: In other words, we don’t wantonly strike up a conversation with a stranger; after all, a brief exchange of pleasantries may extend to a lengthy engagement wherein our partners in conversation may try to get emotionally closer to us than a proper sense of etiquette permits.

Moreover, rudeness is active and aggressive. This is not the way of proper (or improper) Bostonians. If others are uncomfortable with our manners, then they should get it into their heads that we are not trying to give offense—they are merely taking it.

Respectfully, but with an emotional detachment,
Joseph F. Turnbull
Wayland

In 1965, while traveling in Paris, I was greeted at the airport with a booklet of “Smile Coupons,” meant to lure service workers into grinning to earn the coupons from tourists. I left France with coupons intact, realizing this ploy was not going to change the basic nature of the folk. Boston’s Smile Campaign will, no doubt, have the same noneffect. Thank goodness!
Judy Flumere
Milford

Amen to Joe Keohane! I support keeping Boston’s rude disposition intact. When I moved here from Nowheresville, Ohio, I thought I kept my bubbly, midwestern personality and smile, said hello, and drove conscientiously. But on a recent visit home, my family and friends explained my “erratic behavior” toward strangers by introducing me as a Bostonian. My mom sat me down, concerned about my “assertive driving, impatience, intolerance, and blunt retorts.” I smiled, realizing that I really am a Bostonian after all.
Laura M. Winik
Andover

GENDER LINES
The headline on the cover of your July issue, “Kerry Healey Ain’t Jane Swift,” only reinforces so many of the antiquated stereotypes about women running for public office. Instead of encouraging women to run, and thanking those who take on the tough task of being first, you scare women away from the political arena—and that’s not good for any of us.
Sarah Magazine
Jamaica Plain

THE SHOW MUST GO ON
In February, the Boston-based New England Boat Show concluded its 50th annual—and possibly last—event in Greater Boston [“Hubbub,” June]. Its continuation is critical to maintaining Massachusetts’ marine trades industry, which contributes nearly $2 billion annually to the Commonwealth.

The Boston Convention & Exhibition Center is the only location capable of accommodating such an event. Opening the BCEC to a midwinter boat show would infuse the Seaport District’s economy, and the city and state would both benefit from maximizing use of the taxpayer-funded BCEC.
Greg Glavin
President, Massachusetts Marine Trades Association

FOR THE RECORD
>> “Show Boats” [June] misidentified the designer of the Simboli family’s yacht, GiGi, on page 46. The designer was H. Langell Interiors of Boston; Roche-Bobois provided the furnishings.

>> A quote in “Boston Legal” [July] implied that Boston founder Tom Scholz is dissatisfied with recent Sony reissues of the band’s music. His remarks were directed at a limited number of reissues distributed in Canada; the copies now in stores are a version he personally remastered.

>> A credit was omitted from “Open Season” [July]. Styling props were provided by Crate & Barrel.