Letters to the Editor
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‘Tad’s Steaks’
Re: “How Much Is That Steak in the Window?” Paul Lukas, Food & Drink, August 24, 2005. I have fond memories of Tad’s Steaks. When I was a child in the late 1950s, my father worked near Macy’s. He worked late occasionally, often on a Tuesday – Macy’s “late night,” as I recall – and my mother would dress my younger brother and me up in our best clothes, trundle us onto the subway (oh, those wicker seats!), and bring us into “the City” to have a rare meal out.
After a fantasy shopping tour through Macy’s (far too rich for our budget), we would walk together for a fancy steak dinner. I can still smell the beef cooking over the open fire and taste that potato. Dinner for four for under $7 and a rare night out with my busy dad.
Thank you for bringing back a simpler time. Here’s to Tad’s – lift your glass, and don’t forget to remove the Saran Wrap!
JESSICA D. ROTHMAN
Westbury, N.Y.
‘Impossibility of Biography’
“The Impossibility of Biography,” Carl Rollyson, Arts & Letters, August 24, 2005. It is unfortunate Mr. Rollyson’s reviews of the biographies of Christopher Marlow and Edward de Vere and his examination of the canard that one of them (but not William Shakespeare) wrote the plays and sonnets attributed to Shakespeare did not also include a review of “William Shakespeare: His Life and Work” by Anthony Holden, published in hardcover in 1999 by Little Brown U.K., and in 2000 by Abacus, Little Brown’s paperback imprint.
Mr. Rollyson relays Rodney Bolt’s contention that (quoting Mark Twain) the known facts of Shakespeare’s life can be “set out in about four pages.” The paperback edition of Mr. Holden’s book runs 328 pages, not counting appendices and 21 pages of source notes, and in it Mr. Holden carefully and thoroughly debunks the thesis advanced in the Marlow and de Vere biographies. Shakespeare’s father may have been an illiterate tradesman, but William was not brought up as a “poor, ill-educated player,” as Mark Anderson states. John Shakespeare was an important figure in Stratford politics and served as Lord Mayor. For a considerable part of William’s childhood, John Shakespeare was also a successful merchant and, even after his business failure remained involved as a key player, on the local political scene. As a child, William was immersed in the ceremony and affairs of Stratford government.
The refutation of the views of the Marlowe and deVere biographies would take more space than is available here. Suffice it to say that Mr. Holden explains the source of Shakespeare’s sophisticated views of the wide world beyond England and assuredly answers in scholarly detail the question “Does Shakespeare’s writing tell us a great deal about his life, background, and education?” Mr. Holden relates in stunning detail Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets to his life. By the way, Shakespeare (who was first mentioned as a London playwright in 1592) was more than a playwright: He was a successful producer, manager, courtier, and theatrical entrepreneur who retired as a wealthy man and who, incidentally, invented valet parking at the theater (for horses, not cars).
I would urge any reader tempted by Mr. Rollyson’s review to read either the Marlowe or de Vere biographies to first read Mr. Holden’s biography of William Shakespeare.
ELLIOT MILLER
Ridgefield, Conn.
‘Mystery Solved’
Your editorial regarding the sources of Mr. Henry Siegman’s Council on Foreign Relations [“Mystery Solved,” August 23, 2005] funding reminds of the legendary Paul Harvey, who would end his radio commentaries with the sentence: “Now you know the rest of the story.”
MARTIN H. SOKOL
Great Neck, N.Y.
‘Scott Sullivan’
In your otherwise fine article on the sentencing of WorldCom’s Scott Sullivan [“‘The Architect’ of WorldCom’s Fraud Is Sentenced to Five Years,” Business, August 12, 2005], author David Glovin mentioned Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan’s “4-year-old adopted daughter.” Such usage is out of date. It is only necessary to characterize Sullivan’s daughter as adopted if one is writing an article about adoption. Otherwise, specifying that Sullivan’s daughter joined his family through adoption is no more relevant than writing about “his Caesarian-delivered son” or “his in-vitro-conceived daughter.”
MITCH SEMEL
Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.
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