Why do they call it a cold snap? It is not a snap, it’s a prolonged siege.
A few days after that big snow arrived, I was on my way out, about 50 feet from the front door. Negotiating the barely-disturbed drifts, I suddenly landed on my backside, legs in the air. One boot had flown and landed on top of a snowbank. My hat was gone. I managed to twist onto my knees but could go no further. Banks of snow on both sides kept me in place. I had this image of being stuck in the tundra, shouting into the silent white wilderness and pathetically whimpering, “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t … ”
Luckily, Tim was already on his way to rescue me, and of course, he did. The only injury was to my fragile ego. And my other savior, my good friend Leah Smith, recruited her grandson to come and shovel us out. As Tim frequently laments, “When do the golden years kick in?”
As I write this, we are expecting a visitor. Indaia Whitcombe, the oral history curator of the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, is coming to interview and tape Timothy as part of the museum’s upcoming exhibit of the works of Tom Maley, Tim’s father.
Tim has spent most of his adult years on the Vineyard working for his father, making the sculptures that Tom designed on paper. The eight-foot figures evolved from Tom’s drawings. The sketch’s outline was projected (using simple arithmetic) onto plywood. From there, steel rods were set into concrete bases, and the design filled out to three dimensions using styrofoam, urethane and epoxy cement. Tom, with Tim’s help, worked on the large ones until he was no longer able. In his later years, he continued to work behind the gallery, spending much of his day chatting with passers-by and explaining his methods. Tim was kept busy full-time making the molds, casting and finishing the table-top sized artworks in epoxy. The bronze figures were cast by a foundry off-island.
Tom, who died in 2000 at age 89, was a master of self-effacing humor. He told the story of his early days as a sculptor, living in a loft in Lower Manhattan with his wife Helen. Tom decided the best way for him to become a sculptor was to soften chunks of lead on top of the kitchen stove, then mold it into something curvy and shapely. That was, until his wife came home from work, and — horrified — reclaimed her kitchen.
After moving full-time to the Vineyard, Tom began to think of making large sculptures using the same materials used to make boats. He bought a load of these new plastics – poly-this and poly-that — and started to experiment. The first one he made (luckily it was outdoors) self-immolated, burst into flame The experiments didn’t stop. He finally found his recipe — styrofoam, urethane, epoxy paint.
The museum show is scheduled March 7 through June 7. The exhibit is mostly a collection of paintings donated by Tim’s sister, Sandra Caruso, who lives in Los Angeles.
Happy birthday greetings to Lindsey Scott on Friday, Feb. 6. Celebrating their big day on Sunday, Feb. 8 are Kate Warner, Elaine Barnett and David Behnke. Here is a birthday wish for Cathy Minkiewitz and Paul Thurlow on Tuesday, Feb. 10. And Sandy Pratt gets the cake on Thursday, Feb. 12.
Go Pats. Go Bad Bunny.
This article appears in February 6, 2026.