tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4689799018661186647.post6848053822304169121..comments2023-06-01T01:17:54.149-07:00Comments on Johnny Desolation's Vinyl Dustbin: Newt Hinckley Visits With John Gould at Friendship Back RiverJustin K. Rivershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06288467923748592202noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4689799018661186647.post-80149292117177963852010-09-21T20:31:12.750-07:002010-09-21T20:31:12.750-07:00Hello, JD.
I happened upon your blog while Googli...Hello, JD.<br /><br />I happened upon your blog while Googling my uncle--Newt Hinckley. My comments here cannot do justice to the comic genius of this illustrious member of the family. I can relate one story, though, from a particularly fine childhood summer spent at Spofford Lake NH that delights me still: the image of Uncle Newt water skiing behind our neighbor's mahogany Chris Craft while wearing a woman's one-piece bathing suit--modesty panel and all--with two oranges filling out the top half. This act was designed to outrage members of the exclusive beach club next door. Whether it did or not is immaterial. To my young eyes it was a joy to see! <br /><br />Newt has been active in historical re-enactment for quite a while, playing a deacon or abbe. I think he even went to France as part of a ceremony to honor Lafayette. Back in the mid 60's, using the byline Titus A. Drumm, he had a column in a Maine newspaper wherein he skewered each of my family members. What fun to figure out who was who. I must dig out that copy--where is it???<br /><br />He and my dad, Gardner Hinckley, had a lobster trap business in Waldoboro years ago. Newt had a Friendship sloop, too. Their experience in one of the races is epic.<br /><br />Newt is in Jefferson, Maine, and anticipating a November birthday. I am no longer a child so I can tell you he's getting up there.<br /><br />Oh, the venerable John Gould. I read with relish his regular columns in the Christian Science Monitor and even wrote him once on a momentous anniversary heralded by the paper. In my letter I identified myself as Newt's niece, of course, and also reminded him that when he visited my folks in Durham NH he pinched my mother's behind going up the stairs.<br /><br />Men. Great men! How rewarding to see your reverence for each of them.<br /><br />Best wishes,<br />Susan Hinckley Opasik<br />duckntruck@aol.comSusan Hinckley Opasiknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4689799018661186647.post-10566794718774001392009-11-29T09:08:28.941-08:002009-11-29T09:08:28.941-08:00JD-
Thanks for such a great blog. I'm privele...JD-<br /><br />Thanks for such a great blog. I'm priveleged to say I knew Mr Gould, and he was every bit the Maine farmer, worldclass intellectual, brilliant wit and national treasure you have so astutely inferred. This LP is a real collectors item, and you are one of the lucky few to have heard and appreciated it.<br />In his overalls, billy goat beard and pipe, he was a real star in humble Friendship. Give me a shout if youd like a quick tour this July. A wise ghost still haunts the fountain at Archies, and it certainly isnt that poser Casper.<br /><br />Jon March<br /> jmarch100@yahoo.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com