Bill Eville
Remembering Cee Jay Jones, the unofficial summer ambassador in Oak Bluffs, who died Oct. 9 at the age of 100 in Winston Salem, N.C.
The other day, on a wet and chilly morning, I suggested to my daughter Pickle, recently turned three, that she wear a coat for going outside. Giving my children suggestions about what clothes to wear has been an ongoing battle for me ever since I became a parent. That at age eight I chose to wear the same green T-shirt every day for an entire summer mocks me from my past.
Debra Monk knows a thing or two about accomplishments. Ms. Monk is a star of film, television and theatre. She has a list of credits that if written on the body would march up one arm, down the other, include both legs and most probably the person standing next to her. She has appeared in films as diverse as Quiz Show, Fearless, The Bridges of Madison County and had theatre roles in Chicago, Redwood Curtain and Curtains, to name but a few. On television she has played the ex-Mrs. Andy Sipowitz in NYPD Blue, been a mom to T.R. Knight on Grey’s Anatomy and Rose Byrne in Damages. She has been nominated for numerous Tony awards, winning for Redwood Curtain, won an Obie, a Drama Desk Award, the list goes on and on.
For many months up-Island has been a place of quiet, windswept beauty, the destination mostly for winter walks or slow drives through the country. This will change next weekend, though, as the Chilmark Community Center becomes the place to be on the Island for three days and nights of nonstop movie watching.
The other night, six men of a certain age walked into the restaurant Cook and Brown Public House at 959 Hope street in Providence, R.I. They all looked to be in their 50s, an assortment of working professionals, artists and academics. They had gathered for some drinks, a meal and to be together.
At the bar they caught up on one another’s lives. One man had just returned from Heidelberg, Germany. Another recently had surgery to remove some polyps. They raised their glasses and toasted the evening. It was all done as one might expect of men who had reached this point in their lives. Enjoyable but somewhat understated.
A few days ago, after we had an argument, my daughter Pickle, age three, announced she had another father. His name, she told me, is Bob Cheeks.
Evidently, this Mr. Bob Cheeks fellow never tells her it is time for bed. He can also read for hours without tiring and loves to be splashed repeatedly when giving her a bath.