THE MAIL
THE NEWYORKER, DECEMBER 16, 2019 5
deceit. But both the sentimentalized
Thanksgiving myth and Deloria’s in-
dignation are products of a more mod-
ern America, with its relative comfort
and security; neither sprang out of the
darkness of the seventeenth-century
New England forest.
Spencer Harrington
Brooklyn, N.Y.
1
CO-OP CULTUREReading Alexandra Schwartz’s article
about the eccentricities of the Park
Slope Food Co-op, I found myself
thinking that some things never change
(“Bounty Hunters,” November 25th). I
joined the Co-op in the mid-nineteen-
seventies, and was a Saturday-morn-
ing squad leader and then an “expert”
cheese cutter. Since moving to Cali-
fornia, in 2000, I have kept three me-
mentos of my New York life: my 917
area code, a subway token, and my Park
Slope Food Co-op member card.
Arlene Krebs
Monterey, Calif.While trying out a career in modern
dance, in 2011, I was a member of the
Park Slope Food Co-op, and I nannied
for several sets of parents who had fallen
into the abyss of missed shifts. I’ve held
on to a dark Co-op secret for the past
eight years: a fake divorce plot. One
father, in a survival mode particular to
new parents of twin infants, meticu-
lously forged a set of documents to
support the claim that he and his wife
were living apart. The ploy would buy
them an extra year of parental leave
from Co-op shifts. In reality, they were
crammed together in their South Slope
apartment, the kitchen full of hormone-
free milk, gooey dates, and goat cheese.
Virginia Byron
New Orleans, La.WINE, NATURALLY
Rachel Monroe, in her article about
the rise of natural wine, is right that
such wine has become a symbol of vir-
tuous consumption (“On the Nose,”
November 25th). But it’s not just so-
called natural-wine-makers who are
seeking to convey a sense of place in
their wines; that’s the goal of all au-
thentic winemakers. I recently attended
SommCon, a leading wine conference
in San Diego. There were offerings
from Washington, Oregon, California,
France, Portugal, Italy, New Zealand,
and elsewhere; we learned to distin-
guish characteristics imbued by land,
weather, winemaking practices, and the
many other factors that go into craft-
ing a bottle. The bottom line for wine
drinkers is: Forget the ratings! Keep
exploring, and, if you like it, it’s good.
Tom Gable
Del Mar, Calif.
Monroe correctly points out that to call
a wine “natural” is to make a “general
claim of virtue,” and not much more.
As a manager at a winery in Sonoma,
I have found that the category is more
stylistic than substantive: it has little
to do with the farming practices of the
vineyard or the compounds present in
the product. As I see it, the “natural”
label is mainly a marketing strategy to
attract health-conscious consumers—a
trivial repackaging.
Corey Louis
Napa, Calif.
1
INTERPRETING THANKSGIVING
Philip Deloria, in deconstructing the
myth that comity existed between Pil-
grims and Native Americans, would
have done well to acknowledge the
existential threat that the English set-
tlers confronted during their first years
in the North American wilderness (A
Critic at Large, November 25th). The
Pilgrims’ cruel double-dealing with
the Wampanoags must be imagined
in this fearful context. Their desper-
ation does not excuse savagery and
•
Letters should be sent with the writer’s name,
address, and daytime phone number via e-mail to
[email protected]. Letters may be edited
for length and clarity, and may be published in
any medium. We regret that owing to the volume
of correspondence we cannot reply to every letter.THE MAIL
FIRESTONE AND PARSON
30 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116
( 617 ) 266 - 1858 • http://www.firestoneandparson.comSHOWN ACTUAL SIZE
Fine JewelryPair platinum,
crystal, sapphire,
diamond and
carved ruby dress
clips, Oscar Heyman,
c. 1925 $24,Yellow gold, platinum, emerald cut
diamond 5.02 cts. (GIA D, VS 2 ) and
pair antique shield shaped diamonds
(GIA vivid yellow, VVS 1 and VS 1 ) ring,
made by Firestone and Parson
$240,