FOR RICHARD E. LEE

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

Richard Lee was a star, he sparkled, he winked at you through his paintings and made us laugh; all the while he was watching us and laughing. He had an aura of sparklers surrounding him, a bit of Puck’s spirit lived within.

Richard, you have brought us joy in this lifetime, thank you and please, keep twinkling and rearranging the starry-starry sky in your vision.

Wendy Arnell Brophy

Vineyard Haven

STYLISH MISHMASH

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

Not crazy about the new layout. I noticed it immediately while waiting for the Island Queen Friday night. The text font looks more like generic USA Today. The headline Aquaculture’s Next Frontier looks out of place — and is too narrow. The Gazette is a unique paper in many ways and the layout and font helped give it that look. Now it is a mishmash of contemporary styles.

The content and photos remain great as ever.

We are in the midst of a recession and the world seems crazy — Europe, the Middle East — with an out of control White House, so it seems silly to complain to you but I thought I would comment anyway.

Looking forward the next issue!

Peter Robb

Holliston and Oak Bluffs

BELLE THE OSPREY

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

What a fantastic article by Mark Alan Lovewell. I got into the osprey one summer working on a mansion on the Chappy waterfront down harbor and while shingling the roof, they would put on a show in the afternoon sun on the art of fishing. We were adding an enclosed catwalk, lost in a hurricane in the 1950s and I got the feeling of being watched while shingling the catwalk. I looked behind me to see this osprey just sitting in the wind flow, wings spread (she was longer than I am tall), watching me work for a minute on that cold October afternoon, me in my Carhartt monkey suit. We looked at each other and with a little tilt she was gone. Amazing. Graceful, powerful, beautiful all rolled into one.

I loved the article and am now following the osprey from California!

David Hamblen

Sherman Oaks, Calif.

The writer is a former resident of Edgartown.