Ep. 10 — When the Tides Change

 

"Timeout. If you see a hole, you mend it. You don't go say I'll go back and fix it. It don't work." --Stuart Vorpahl The story of Stuart Vorpahl involves fishing, the Hamptons and the King of England.

 
“Timeout. If you see a hole, you mend it. You don’t go say I’ll go back and fix it. It don’t work.”
— Stuart Vorpahl

San Francisco. Portland. Los Angeles. Brooklyn. Cities like these all share a neighborhood where the gentrifying market forces of real estate, development and business opportunity are kicking out the the poor or middle class. It’s the curse of capitalism—someone has to lose and you don’t think about that when you’re dreaming.

If Stuart Vorpahl had his way, East Hampton would always remain a fishing town. But, we can’t all be winners. His community now blends into the moniker of “the Hamptons”—where the rich go to summer. With family ties that go back to 1639, Stuart has a right to claim the neighborhood has changed.

But when Stuart started talking about the king of England, it was tempting to dismiss him as a crackpot stuck in the past. Was he crazy or did he have a point?

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Show Notes

  1. [00:40] “An Accumulation” by Blue Dot Sessions

  2. [05:15] Some light reading on East Hampton (Wikipedia)

  3. [07:10] “Bright and Blank” by Blue Dot Sessions

  4. [07:15] A “Lavish and Luminous” guide to the different Hampton towns (The New York Times)

  5. [07:20] The museum Hugh King works in

    1. Also a recommended read about ghost tours King gives (Narratively, 2013)

  6. [10:50] More on Russell Drumm, who has passed away in January 2016. (The East Hampton Star, 2016)

  7. [13:45] “Scraper” by Blue Dot Sessions

  8. [19:40] “Balti” by Blue Dot Sessions

  9. [20:20] An article by Russell Drumm on pound-trapping. (The East Hampton Star, 2003)

  10. [21:20] Before Arnold Leo was involved with representing the East End’s commercial fishing community, he hung out with people like Andy Warhol. See here. (The Believer, 2012)

  11. [25:40] “The Spinnet” by Blue Dot Sessions

  12. [27:30] Some light reading on the practice of trawling (Wikipedia)

  13. [28:59] “Szaree”  by Blue Dot Sessions

  14. [30:55] Gordon Colvin (The East Hampton Star, 1997)

  15. [33:20] “Base Camp” by Blue Dot Sessions

  16. [33:40] Some light reading on striped bass (Wikipedia)

  17. [35:00] General Electric’s PCB problem of the 1970s (The New York Times, 1983)

  18. [35:25] Striped-bass migratory patterns (Striperspace.com)

  19. [36:30] Recommended reading: The practice of ocean-haul seining and the East End’s general fishing way-of-life was one well documented by Peter Matthiessen in the book, Men’s Lives. You can read the preface here.

  20. [37:45] “The Summit” by Blue Dot Sessions

  21. [41:25] “The Downeaster Alexa” by Billy Joel

  22. [42:00] A short-summary on the Bass Wars, 20 years later [The East Hampton Star, 2012]

  23. [45:40] “The Elusive Word” by Blue Dot Sessions

  24. [48:50] “Stillness” by Blue Dot Sessions