Sad, sad, sad

If there's one thing your superior correspondents do not want to do, it's to join in on the absolute media overkill that has accompanied the tragedy off Martha's Vineyard last weekend. Certainly John F. Kennedy Jr. was a huge celebrity, and this was a compelling and indescribably sad story, but the sheer volume of television hours and print pages dedicated to speculation, rumor and biographical rehashes was overkill by anyone's measure. There is certainly a grimace on John's handsome face up there in heaven as he looks down on the breathless and relentless reports from the likes of Stone Phillips, Dan Jaenig, the increasingly bizarre Dan Rather and the amazing "Hollywood in mourning" report on the E! cable station featuring Army Archerd, who continually referred to Kennedy as "J.J."

But what else can one expect in a world where the celebration of youth, beauty and celebrity is a constant? John and Caroline Bessette Kennedy epitomized those things.

That said, for a few years in the early '80s, John Kennedy lived here in our Little Towne. Those who doubt the depiction of John the noble, gracious and down-to-earth should consider that, after living his entire life under an unforgiving media microscope, the only questionable thing that anyone could uncover about the guy was that he sometimes neglected to pay some parking tickets. Since this is Providence, Phillipe & Jorge, like many locals, had, on occasion bumped into JFK Jr. when he was attending Brown. Our impressions were that he was, indeed, a genuinely charming and thoughtful young man. And, as he grew, his grace and thoughtfulness grew, too. The loss of three attractive and vital young people . . . it's just sad, sad, sad.

Attribution, please

Over at the BeloJo, the class acts on the editorial pages have always been Brian Dickinson and Froma Harrop. Therefore, we were a little taken aback to see that Ms. Harrop's commentary on suburban sprawl in last Friday's Other Paper lifted, without attribution, findings and two quotes from a front-page story that ran two days earlier in The New York Times. One of the quotes was by Michael Leavitt, the Republican governor of Utah, the other from Ben Wattenberg of the American Enterprise Institute.

This does not exactly constitute plagiarism nor does it rise to the level of egregious carelessness of last year's Mike Barnicle fiasco at The Boston Globe, but it also does not represent the exacting standards we've come to expect from Ms. Harrop. Our chagrin, of course, might be merely professional jealousy, as P&J have always thought that we cornered the market on non-exacting journalistic standards. It could also be that Ms. Harrop assumes that everybody reads the Times daily and would immediately know the source of the borrowed information. Froma Harrop's observations are too valuable to be infected by such gremlins.

Fantasy world

Phillipe and Jorge are pleased to announce that the 1999 award for best fiction writing in Rhode Island has been given to the authors of the Quonset Point Partners port proposal.

Of particular note was QPP's deft artistic use of negative space, as in certain facts being conspicuous by their absence. Whether it is avoiding what wages QPP plans to pay workers, or the lack of legally required commitments from carriers, the proposal is essentially full of distorted or contradictory projections. QPP obviously hopes that, as a consequence, no one will have the energy to wade through the full document.

P&J are very interested in the outcome of the July 22 "public meeting" being held by the board of the Economic Development Corporation (Governor Bigfoot, proprietor). Still, our sense of a public meeting is not simply giving five minutes to people who want to speak on an issue of enormous magnitude. This is the first real chance for the EDC board to rear up on its hind legs and do the right thing, which essentially means planting a brogan in the Bankruptcy Boy's hindquarters and sending them back to Massachusetts to do their dirty dealing in the Bay State. Right now, QPP is obviously trying to just get any portion of their foot in the door, and even if they start with a small project, expand as quickly as possible once the public outcry diminishes. Opponents of the port would do well to not even blink at this critical stage, lest the B-Boys pull a fast one with the aid of their buttboy, EDC honcho John "What Clean Water Act?" Swen.

Jockular

An alert reader and sports fan tells P&J about a rather interesting bit of coverage of the recent All-Star game at Fenway Park that didn't make it on to the national networks. Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams threw out the ceremonial first pitch and was the guest star of the evening. He made his entrance while being driven around the field in a golf cart to a standing ovation, before stopping on the pitcher's mound, where he was immediately surrounded by the All-Stars, all eager to shake the hand of "the greatest hitter to ever play the game."

Just before current BoSox idol Nomar Garciaparra stepped up to pay his respects to Teddy Ballgame, the network cut to a commercial. But those with satellite TV continued to see the coverage from the field. At that point, Williams grasped Nomar's hand and was heard to loudly exclaim in his typical booming voice, "I'm sorry I didn't make it to your party last night. I got plastered."

It looks like the Splendid Splinter's still swinging, if not for the fences.

Joe McDevitt

P&J were saddened to read of the passing of Joe McDevitt Sr., a legendary political gadfly and Democratic party activist for many years. He was the epitome of the political junkie, a regular on the talk radio call-in lines and at meetings of governmental reform groups. He knew plenty, but he insisted on playing the role of the "loose cannon." He probably held the record for filing ethics commission complaints against elected officials and would-be elected officials, including a couple against his old Classical High School classmate, former Governor Bruce Sundlun. Actually, we can't think of any of his ethics complaints that were actually acted upon, but he was always in there pitching.

Joe was a good guy, well-liked by many on the political scene despite his propensity for mischief and stirring up controversy. He was a walking encyclopedia of Rhode Island political history in the last half of this century, and frequently enlightened us with his knowledge of arcane political disputes and strategies. He will be greatly missed.

Annals of compassion

Did any of you experience power outages over the blazingly hot weekend just past? Folks in the Cranston neighborhood of Edgewood reported at least three different blackouts. Henry Shelton, the prominent social activist and leading advocate for the poor and dispossessed, lives in Edgewood. He tells P&J that he finds it ironic (well, those who know Henry can gather that this wasn't his exact word) that Narragansett Electric hasn't made any statements, apologies or otherwise, about these pesky power interruptions. This is probably because New England Electric System, the company that owns Narragansett Electric, is too busy trying to buy Blackstone Valley and Newport Electric. And this is time-consuming, folks, because the number one priority is to put together those golden executive parachutes that are an obligatory part of the buyouts. Of course, we fully expect another, bigger power company to buy out N.E. Electric, meaning even more golden parachutes. And the beat goes on.

Kudos and congrats . . .

. . . to the BeloJo's Mike Stanton for his first-rate Sunday piece on the curious activities surrounding Vincent "No Stains on this Jacket" Cianci's selection as an honorary lifetime member of the University Club. Needless to say, the only person who emerges stainless in the whole article is Meredith Curren, a club board member who resigned in protest over the Bud-I's magical membership.

. . . to Kate Coyne-McCoy, head ramrod of the R.I. chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, who announced Tuesday that she'll run for the 2nd District congressional seat being vacated by Bob "Dorian" Weygand. P&J know Kate to be smart, passionate and committed to the lot of middle-class and lower-income people. Although we've been impressed with the job done by the assumed front-runner in this race, Secretary of State Jim Langevin, we see more eye-to-eye with the fabulous Kate on such issues as reproductive freedom, health care and gun control. She is a gem.

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