Mr. Brownell, no one who has spent five minutes in Larry Costa's presence
would ever think of calling him "boorish." They would note, however, his
playful sense of humor...a quality which doesn't always translate perfectly
to the uninflected text-only world of email. Personally, whenever I'm
puzzled by the tone of a message, I give the author the benefit of the
doubt.
Which is why I'm going to give you just that. I'm sure YOU don't intend to
be boorish, although repeatedly defending one's "position" on an off-topic
non-issue happens to meet my definition of that term. So can we get back
to sailing? Or rather, about the idea of sailing (that's all I seem able to
indulge in nowadays)?
[Insert whatever "smiley" you find appropriate here]
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> With reference to Jerry Smith's recent admonitory note: "Chill"? I
> thought I was cool enough to Mr. Costa as it was. In any case, I
> found Mr. Costa's initial remarks boorish and his grasp of history
> naive, and said so. Silence is often taken to denote agreement, after
> all, and I wouldn't have Bruce Longstaff conclude that all Americans
> are as bellicose as Mr. Costa. A very temperate aim, I should have
> thought.
>
> Forrest Brownell
Jason Roberts
P-15 #555 "Otter"
Sausalito, CA