The People Who Matter

There are years of living gayly, madly, dangerously, or in Provence, but for The Rye Record, the last twelve months have been filled with far too many losses.

Last summer, our longtime sports and school photographer Nick D’Agostino lost his battle with cancer. Every time Nick walked in the door, fresh off the tennis courts, it was a pleasant interruption. Handing us a CD, he’d say brightly, “Number 32 is the money shot!” We’d stop what we were doing, insert the disc, and race through the photos until we saw the very one he was proudest of.

Last summer, our longtime and long-legged Inquiring Photographer Kathleen Durkee told us that she and her family were moving. “You can’t!” we protested. Kathleen covered anything we needed — last minute, on a busy weekend — and did so with signature grace. When she and her husband Mal were living temporarily in lower Manhattan, when we called and asked her if she could hop on a train and be here, she was.

The Rye Record was blessed to have two St. Louis natives on its list of invaluable contributors, Ron Fisher and Caroline Walker. Each had approached us about writing a regular column.

With humor and a dash of bitters, Ron penned “Rye on the Rocks” columns that readers sent across the country! There wasn’t a concoction he couldn’t improve on, and he gave us history in the mix.

Caroline dedicated herself to improving “the landscape” in town — whether at Rye Town Park, compiling data on vehicle parking on the Great Lawn and helping reduce the number through intelligent protest, or working behind the scenes to help elect the best candidates for local office. In her spare time, she devoted herself to sharing endearing “Rye Rescue” stories, which included professional photographs by Geoff Tischmann. And she made sure that every Rye resident she knew adopted a pet.

But all is not loss. In this issue, we welcome Clark Moore, bartender at The Red Pony and poetry professor at Mercy College. He is our new “Rye on the Rocks” columnist.

After a long search, we asked Jo Bryan to be our Inquiring Photographer, and she said yes!

Welcome, and may you be with us a very long time.