The St. James Chamber of Commerce hosted a community Christmas Tree Lighting celebration at Deepwells Farm County Park.
Originally scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 3, it had to be moved to Sunday due to rain.
The event included pictures with Santa Claus, crafts, performances, hot cocoa and snacks. Among the performers were the Dogwood Fourth Grade Chorus and the Smithtown High School East Whisperettes kickline team.
For one North Shore singer, an injury and her 13-year-old daughter have led her on a path she has dreamed about for years.
Growing up in Montreal, Canada, Robbie Harte wanted to become a singer-songwriter. However, her goal was put on hold when an accident 14 years ago caused a back and spine injury that left her in chronic pain and unable to sing.
“It affected every part of me,” Harte said.
She added the best way to describe the issue to people is to imagine throbbing tooth pain from the waist to the toes all day, where sitting, standing or lying down doesn’t relieve the pain. It was so overwhelming that it was difficult for her to take in the breaths she needed to hold notes.
The Canadian was already living in Suffolk County when the accident occurred. She had met her husband during a trip to Hawaii. She worked for an airline and planned to go to Paris to write. Last minute Harte said she felt she shouldn’t go to France and opted to go to Hawaii, a place she was familiar with from visiting a couple of times. One morning while sitting in a coffee shop, she saw him run by, and then he was inside the shop a little while later. He stopped by her table to talk to her while she was writing about a couple meeting
In her song “Out of the Blue,” she recounts the meeting saying she “traded Paris in for paradise.”
They began a long-distance relationship, with the two traveling between Canada and Smithtown, where he lived at the time. Shortly after she moved to Suffolk County, they married. Soon after she became pregnant with her daughter, she was injured.
“It was such a happy time for us, then I was sidelined,” Harte said. “It wasn’t just that I was sidelined — I was sidelined and silenced.”
She added that she navigated sad times in the past by expressing herself through music. Harte said at first, she accepted this was the way it was, but she started realizing she wasn’t herself.
After her daughter was diagnosed with autism when she was 7, Harte wanted to show her child that a medical diagnosis shouldn’t stop her from pursuing her dreams.
“She’s the driving force that I’m on this journey,” the singer said. “She is the reason I’m pursuing my dream. She’s the reason that I’m doing all of this.”
Harte remembered the day she and her husband told their daughter about the autism diagnosis. She said they explained that sometimes things may be more challenging for her than others, but she shouldn’t let it get in the way of living her dreams. Harte said that conversation catapulted her to start pursuing her own goals.
“Here I was sitting on the couch, curled up in a ball, not living my dream because I couldn’t do it anymore, and things were really hard for me,” she said. “I said, ‘You know, I can’t tell her that and not put action behind my words. I have to show her by example, by being the best possible role model I can.’ That was the moment that I really decided this is my dream.”
Harte decided to put everything into singing despite how difficult or uncomfortable it was at first. The singer, who taught herself to play guitar, released her first EP in 2020 and has been enjoying musical success with her country/pop songs ever since. She has won and been nominated for several awards. Recently, she won the Gold Songwriter of the Year award and Bronze Single of the Year award for “Outside My Window” from the International Singer-Songwriters Association.
A few weeks ago, Harte released the single “Reason to Rise.” She described the song as an “anthemic power ballad.” The single has received airplay all over the globe and has landed on Canadian, country and indie music charts.
The journey has taught Harte a lot about herself and her strengths, she said. Initially, she was afraid she would never be able to get on a stage because she uses a cane regularly. However, she decided she would hold on to whatever else she needed, whether it was a curtain or microphone stand.
“You can’t let any of these things stop you because they’re just details,” Harte said.
The wife and mother also had advice when it comes to balancing various responsibilities and demands that parents face when juggling their own and their children’s obligations. She said the key is not to let everything overwhelm a parent, and she feels it’s important to make time for oneself. Harte said it’s vital to have a release such as singing, a hobby or playing a sport.
“If you don’t have that, you can’t give to other people,” she said. “You need to be in a positive mindset, and you need to have a few minutes — even if it’s 15 minutes — to do something that you love, so that you’re grounded, so that you can give your best to the people around you.”
Harte said she hopes to use her platform “to uplift, inspire and empower people” and to encourage them to let nothing stop them from doing what they love.
“I want to remind people to go out there and pursue their dreams and do what they love, despite their age, their ability or their limitations.”
For more information, visit robbieharte.com.
Walter Charles Hazlitt, of Stony Brook, passed away on Nov. 27. He would have celebrated his 97th birthday on Dec. 2.
Born in Brooklyn, Walter was a World War II veteran, who served in the Marines from 1944-46. He was also a retired Brookhaven Town Republican Committee chairman. According to a statement from the Suffolk County Republican Committee, Walter was a former Suffolk County legislator in the 5th District “and helped advance the industry-recognized services provided by the Suffolk County Water Authority.”
Walter served 62 years with Stony Brook Fire Department. A former chief, he was an active commissioner serving since 1999.
Nicholas Simonsen, 3rd assistant chief, described Walter as “a man for the community,” and said everybody with the fire department will miss him.
“He was definitely a patriarch of the department,” Simonsen said. “He set the example for many, and he was overall a great man — he really was.”
In 2016, he was honored by U.S. Congress “for service to his country and community,” and also received the Brookhaven Community Leadership Award. He was on the board of Suffolk County Community College for many years.
Walter was the beloved husband of Elizabeth, who predeceased him in 2020. The two were married for 67 years and first met at Stony Brook Yacht Club, where Walter was a member for 75 years.
His sister Marcella and brother Arthur also predeceased him. He leaves behind his children Walter Hazlitt and Elizabeth Emerson and four grandchildren.
Arrangements were entrusted to Bryant Funeral Home in East Setauket. Visitation will be held at the funeral home on Saturday, Dec. 3, from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 4, from 2 to 5 p.m. A firematic service will be held at 8 p.m. on Dec. 3 at the funeral home, and Stony Brook Yacht Club will hold a service on Sunday, Dec. 4, at 2:30 p.m. A funeral Mass will take place at St. James R.C. Church in Setauket on Monday, Dec. 5, at 10:45 a.m. Burial to follow in the churchyard cemetery.
A new independent bookstore is set to open on New York Avenue in Huntington Village after one entrepreneur’s yearlong journey to find a location.
Many business owners struggled to keep their doors open during the COVID pandemic even after restrictions were lifted. One of the stores that shut its doors for good during 2021 was the Book Revue in Huntington village.
However, former Book Revue store manager Mallory Braun, of Huntington, realized the importance of a community bookstore and launched a Kickstarter campaign on Nov. 1, 2021, to raise $250,000. Her hope was to open a new store in the village in the spirit of Book Revue. After 45 days on the crowdfunding platform, more than 2,200 people donated over $255,000.
Opening a new bookstore didn’t happen overnight though.
Braun has spent several months acquiring books and records that were donated and sold to her and stored them at a warehouse. While she waited for the right location, the business owner and employees ran pop-up stores over the last few months in locations such as the Huntington Fall Festival, Nest on Main in Northport, Glen Cove’s Southdown Coffee and more. The pop-ups were fun and successful, she said, and after the new store is open, she would like to do more.
“It allows us to build relationships with local businesses,” Braun said.
Regarding finding the right location, the entrepreneur said she had to find a space that was big enough for the quantity of books she wanted to carry and hold events that she hopes to organize in the future.
She said there were serious talks about a few locations until they found the storefront at 204 New York Ave.
“This one was the one that has worked out, and it was the right choice,” she said, adding that it’s a five-minute walk from the old Book Revue building, in a northerly direction.
A grand opening date has not been chosen yet, but she said the store will open in time for the holiday shopping season. Braun added there is still a lot of work to be done. The Next Chapter employees are still shelving books and vinyl records at the future store, and Richard Klein, former Book Revue co-owner, has also been helping her prepare for the big day.
Braun, who specializes in used and rare items, is currently ordering new books. She said it would enable her to have authors visit for book signings, something she said customers enjoy.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to take to build up the same type of author as Book Revue had, but it’s important, and we’ve already been working on it,” Braun said.
She added that people have been volunteering to help get the store ready. Anyone interested in helping can reach the store by emailing: [email protected].
For more information about The Next Chapter, visit the website www.thenextchapterli.com.
As co-founder and co-owner of Elegant Eating in Smithtown, Myra Naseem is accustomed to special occasions. At the end of October, instead of being on the planning end of a party, it was her turn to be honored as friends and family celebrated her 80th birthday.
Naseem, who goes all out to decorate the interior of her house every year for Halloween, commemorated her milestone one night with family and friends at her home with a costume party. The next day she, her two daughters Lyla and Kaneez, granddaughter Giselle and female friends enjoyed a tea party at the Smithtown Historical Society’s Frank Brush Barn.
The historical society’s executive director Priya Kapoor is a friend of the octogenarian and was on hand for the festivities. She looks up to Naseem, she said, and described her as a mentor.
“She is my biggest cheerleader who supports me no matter what,” Kapoor said. “She is my person no matter where we are. I feel home when I am around her.”
Naseem’s daughter Lyla Gleason said she, her sister and daughter read 80 things about their mother they loved at the tea party. She said they were touched as many of her mother’s friends, impromptu, stood up and added to the list of things they appreciated about Naseem.
Gleason remembers when her grandmother turned 80 years and was already retired and living in Florida. At the time, she thought 80 was old, but looking at her mother, she doesn’t feel the same way.
“She’s still in the prime of her life,” Gleason said.
With the pandemic’s negative effects on businesses, Naseem could have retired from her off-site catering business. She admitted she enjoyed some downtime during the shutdowns. However, she continues to run the business with partner Neil Schumer. She also attends events to ensure everything is set up to meet a client’s expectations.
Naseem credited her successful partnership with Schumer to always coming to a solution even though they sometimes disagree on the best approach. He is like family to her. For Schumer, the feeling is mutual.
“After 40 years we are best friends, we are family,” he said. “We have a bond that can’t be broken. With Myra, her heart is to make everyone happy. She always says the positive. I couldn’t ask for a better partner, better friend, better family.”
Kaneez Naseem said she admires that her mother continues working and attending social events outside of her job.
“I’m glad that she’s where she is in life right now,” she said.
Kaneez Naseem recognized her mother could have fully retired when the pandemic hit, but she said it’s hard to imagine her not working. The daughter added she loves when people tell her how much they enjoyed the parties her mother has catered.
“She puts such care into every party as if it was for me or Lyla,” Kaneez Naseem said. “She’ll always want to make it like home and perfect.”
Myra Naseem said when she was younger, she had no idea that people would hire someone to cook for a party.
“I didn’t even know there was an industry called catering,” she said. “It was just a fluke.”
The former home economics teacher and Schumer started the business in her Smithtown home. The venture started after Naseem prepared a few menu items for her older daughter Lyla’s bat mitzvah. The caterer she used, who Schumer worked for, asked her to work for them. She did for a while, and when it was Kaneez’s turn to have her bat mitzvah, the business owner couldn’t have it at his place, so Myra Naseem catered it herself.
People from her temple started asking her to cater their parties, she said. Naseem began catering on a regular basis while still teaching for the first six years she ran the business.
“I liked it right from the beginning,” she said. “I think it’s very intuitive. It was almost like a very easy segue. Whether you’re running a classroom or you’re running a party, everybody gets a task and everybody’s doing their thing.”
In 1987, after her youngest graduated from Hauppauge High School, Naseem and Schumer opened their first storefront in Stony Brook, and the business officially became Elegant Eating Ltd. As the business grew, they moved to its current location on the Smithtown Bypass.
With both girls away at college, she said it was easier to juggle teaching and catering. By the time she retired from teaching in the 1990s, she had already been working in the New York State education system for 30 years, with 24 of those years being spent in the Central Islip school district.
A graduate of SUNY Oneonta and New York University, where she obtained her master’s, Naseem said she grew up during a time when young women were made to feel they could only become a secretary, nurse or teacher.
“I think that today the young girls have a very different footing,” she said, adding the best advice for the younger generation is to remember you have to start at the bottom and work your way up.
“You need to see the foundation before you can be at the top of it,” she said.
Naseem’s parents were business owners, too. Born and raised on Long Island, her family moved to Patchogue when she was 5. Her parents owned a dress store in the village and decided to sell it and moved to Smithtown when she was 18. They opened a new dress store on Main Street, where Horizons Counseling and Education Center is located today. When her brother died at the age of 25 after an automobile accident, her mother wanted to leave New York, and her parents moved to Florida. At the time, Naseem was divorcing her husband, and with her daughters only 2 and 3 years old, she moved into her parents’ Smithtown home.
Kaneez Naseem said growing up, she didn’t realize what a positive role model her mother was.
“I don’t know that I appreciated it as a child, but I certainly do now, when I look at her and the way she lived her life,” she said.
The daughter said she realized how courageous her mother was to divorce when she was so young. She said if her mother ever struggled, she never showed it.
“It was us three girls,” Kaneez Naseem said. “It was me, Mommy and Lyla. That was normal to me.”
Gleason agreed, and as she looks back, she too has a deeper appreciation for all her mother did and achieved. When she was younger, she said, she thought what her mother did was normal, but over the years she has come to realize she made some bold moves.
She described her mother as a pioneer who was liberated and empowered.
“Women weren’t supposed to be empowered in those days,” she said. “It was unusual to see a woman take charge and start a career and do all these things without a husband.”
Gleason added her mother taught her daughters that a woman could do things in life with the support of family and friends and didn’t necessarily have to have a romantic partner. She said it has made her and her sister the independent women they are today, and Gleason is now teaching her daughter the same.
“Your life is not all about being in a marriage or partnership,” she said. “Your friends and family can be just as important and supportive as a traditional husband.”
Looking back at life, Myra Naseem said while there were tough times both personal and in her career, she said it was important to stay positive and always realize how fortunate she is. She compares herself to the Weeble toys that are built to wobble but not fall down.
“I always come right side up no matter what happens to me,” she said. “Whether I have a terrible experience or something gets broken or I’m sick or I have to make a big decision and maybe don’t make the best decision, I always come up straight. I always come up headfirst.”
The Dogwood Hollow Amphitheater was once located behind Stony Brook Village Center. It was the place to see musical stars such as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Liberace, Tony Bennett and more until 1970.
Now it’s the spot to celebrate music once again. The Long Island Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame officially opened Friday, Nov. 25. On the night of Nov. 23, a ribbon cutting was held followed by a red carpet event, preview of exhibits and performances by LIMEHOF inductees.
The 8,800 square-foot building is the first physical facility of the nonprofit organization and was previously used as the Ward Melville Heritage Organization’s Educational and Cultural Center.
“We are thrilled our organization has found a permanent home in such a wonderful location,” said Ernie Canadeo, LIMEHOF chairman in a statement. “We’re excited to be able to share our world-class displays and unique memorabilia collection that showcases Long Island’s rich and diverse musical and entertainment history in new and exciting ways. We feature different and exciting exhibits, displays, videos and education
offerings that make the center a dynamic place for people to visit on a regular basis.”
The event was well-attended by entertainers, including members of Twisted Sister, Blue Oyster Cult, Zebra, Jen Chapin and Carole Demas and Paula Janis of “The Magic Garden.” Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine (R), state Sen. Mario Mattera (R-St. James), state Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket), county Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket), Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) and WMHO President Gloria Rocchio were on hand to welcome the inductees and LIMEHOF organizers.
Attendees were able to preview the nonprofit’s first exhibit, “Long Island’s Legendary Club Scene — 1960s-1980s.” Designer Kevin O’Callaghan created the exhibit, featuring many of the LIMEHOF inductees, to be like a club crawl through the 60s, 70s and 80s club scenes.
Demas and Janis said they were honored to represent family entertainment in the hall of fame. While the show “The Magic Garden” went off the air in 1984, the duo have performed on stage occasionally through the decades. Janis said the two have known each other since they were teenagers in Brooklyn. The hall of fame includes artists who have lived in Suffolk Nassau, Queens and Brooklyn.
“We never imagined ‘The Magic Garden’ would walk us into something like this,” Demas said.
Mark Mendoza, who played bass in Twisted Sister, was also impressed by the facility. He said while it has taken several years for the LIMEHOF to find a permanent home, the wait was worth it because it enabled more time to collect impressive memorabilia from various artists.
He said Long Island is finally being recognized as music hotspot and the hall of fame will help to recognize even further the talented musicians from the Island.
“It’s definitely going to be a place for tourists to come — a lot of people to come here because of the music,” he said. “It’s great because it’s so diverse. The music is so incredibly diverse, and it’s great seeing all the other artists here tonight. This is definitely going to be a destination for people to show up at.”
The Nov. 23 event ended with performances by Demas and Janis, Harry Chapin’s daughter Jen, Elliott Murphy and Zebra.
The Long Island Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame is located at 97 Main Street, Stony Brook. It is open Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. For more information, visit limusichalloffame.org.
After more than two decades of public service, Brookhaven Town Clerk Donna Lent (I) has retired after nine years in that office.
The announcement was made at the Nov. 10 Town Board meeting, where Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) and council members thanked Lent for her service.
“It was a lovely day,” Lent said in a phone interview. “I was not expecting the big send-off from the board that they gave me, which was very generous.”
Lent ran for her third term in office against Ira Costell (D) in the 2021 election. She said she started having a painful case of sciatica after getting hurt in May. Lent was on medical leave for six weeks.
“It just got me thinking,” Lent said. “Here I turned 70 in September, and my husband retired in 2015.”
She initially thought she would retire in August, but she said Romaine asked her to stay longer.
Her first day of retirement was Nov. 14, just a few days after the Town Board send-off. Lent said she stayed on to help in the office because both of her deputies had their children’s birthday parties during the weekend. Soon after her last day, Lent and her husband moved to South Carolina.
Deputy Town Clerk Lauren Thoden is now serving as interim town clerk. A special election will be held in the near future, and the winner will complete Lent’s term which ends in 2025.
Lent said during her tenure she was immersed in the day-to-day operations of the office. She also oversaw the implementation of the town’s electronic content management system, which included a central-scanning repository where the town clerk’s office can scan both department and town records in real time.
Regarding office operations, Lent said she has no concerns, for now, as she knows it will be “smooth sailing” for the current staff members. However, she does worry that whoever is elected town clerk may not keep the same staff.
“My advice to the new clerk would be to keep the people who know what they’re doing and just let them do it,” she said.
Most people don’t understand the multitude of tasks the office is responsible for, she added, and the new clerk needs to know all the ins and outs of how everything works.
“It’s important to have some continuity,” she said.
Before being elected town clerk, Lent managed a lawyer’s office. She entered public service in 2001 when she became former state Assemblywoman Patricia Eddington’s chief of staff. When Eddington (WF/D/I-Medford) went on to become Brookhaven town clerk, Lent was appointed deputy town clerk.
As Lent looks back at her career, she feels fortunate.
“I was really so privileged to be able as a staffer to end up being an elected official and so honored to have held that position and get reelected twice to serve the residents of the Town of Brookhaven,” Lent said. “It really was a job that I loved.”
In a statement, Romaine thanked Lent.
“Donna Lent has a long history of public service to the Town of Brookhaven, and she will be missed by all of us at Town Hall,” he said. “Her efforts to make the department run more efficiently helped to streamline public facing operations, making it easier for residents to conduct their business with her office. On behalf of the Town Board and all the residents of Brookhaven Town, I say thank you Donna for your many years of exemplary service as Brookhaven town clerk.”
Right before the St. James Veterans Day Parade began on Nov. 11, the rain began. However, veterans, Scouts, fire department volunteers and school marching bands weren’t going to let that stop them from heading down Lake Avenue.
The marchers started at Woodlawn Avenue and continued down Lake until St. James Elementary School.
Despite weather forecasters calling for rain, Setauket residents showed up for veterans on Friday, Nov. 11.
In an abbreviated ceremony to avoid the pending bad weather, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3054 hosted its annual recognition service at the Setauket Veterans Memorial Park at the corner of Shore Road and Route 25A in East Setauket.
Scouts and veterans laid wreaths at the memorial that recognizes the various wars American soldiers have fought in.
The New Yorker cartoonist and former Stony Brook resident George Booth died on Nov. 1 at his home in Brooklyn. He was 96. The cartoonist died a few days after his wife, Dione, who passed away on Oct. 26.
According to his obituary in The New York Times, the cause of his death was complications of dementia.
Booth was known for his cartoons that featured various quirky characters depicted as cats, dogs, mechanics, cave dwellers and churchgoers in the weekly magazine over 50 years. The magazine’s unofficial mascot was a bull terrier that appeared in several of his cartoons.
While living in Three Village, Booth and his work was featured in The Village Times and The Village Times Herald. In 1980, he was named the paper’s Man of the Year in Media.
According to the 1980 article, the former Stony Brook resident lived in a house that once belonged to a sea captain. In the interview, he said fellow residents “let me put them in my cartoons.” However, he didn’t divulge any names.
He also received inspiration from his wife.
“Dione has been an education to me on the subject of plants, minuets and pussycats,” he said.
In The Village Times article, he said he and his two brothers grew up in Missouri, where his father trained him as a printer’s devil, an apprentice in a printing establishment. His mother was a cartoonist and musician, and she served as inspiration for his character Mrs. Ritterhouse.
In the 1980 article, he said he developed an interest in auto mechanics while living in Cold Spring Harbor. He had a Model A that always had issues.
“In order to keep it running I had to live at Bohaty’s garage in Centerport,” he said.
Among his favorite artists were Fred Lasswell, who created the “Snuffy Smith” comic strip, and portrait artist Thomas Hart Benton.
When asked which one of his cartoons he would put in a time capsule, he said “Ip Gissa Gul,” which means “ape gets a girl.”
He was born in Cainsville, Missouri, on June 28, 1926, according to The New York Times obituary and grew up on a farm near Fairfax, Missouri. His parents were teachers.
Booth was drafted in 1944 and joined the U.S. Marine Corps. Eventually he became a cartoonist for the Marine magazine Leatherneck. He attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C., and the School of Visual Arts in New York City, on the G.I. Bill. After moving to New York in 1952, he sold art to publications such as Collier’s, Look and The Saturday Evening Post. The cartoonist and his wife married in 1958.
Booth sold his first cartoon to The New Yorker in 1969. He also illustrated children’s books, including “Wacky Wednesday” by Dr. Seuss (as Theo LeSieg) and “Here, George!” by Sandra Boynton. His art career also led him to advertising campaigns, greeting cards and animation.
In recognition of his work, Booth won the Gag Cartoon Award by the National Cartoonists Society in 1993, and the society’s Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. He was an honorary member of Colgate University’s Class of 1939 and was awarded an honorary doctorate of fine arts from Stony Brook University in 2003,. He is the subject of “Drawing Life,” part of The New Yorker Documentary series.
Local reflections
Jeffrey Levinton, of Stony Brook, said he and his wife, Joan Miyazaki, were the Booths’ neighbors. He described George Booth as a kind man. The cartoonist would invite Levinton’s son Nathan when he was younger to his Stony Brook studio to see his cartoons.
Levinton added George Booth loved to tell stories and jokes.
“They often had punchlines I did not understand, but George would laugh out loud after telling them,” Levinton wrote.
He remembers one of The New Yorker covers Booth showed them.
“Dracula and a cat at the dinner table – cat with a bowl of milk and Dracula with a bowl of blood,” he said. “George also had a truly amazing pair of drawings of a carnival ride, built in his backyard — you could see the steeple of the church on Christian Avenue. The ride was physically impossible, but George had an explosion diagram of all the impossible parts of a ride where a guy zoomed about the yard and landed in a couch. This masterpiece is apparently lost.”
Levinton remembered a story that Dione Booth told him about her husband that he feels reveals the cartoonist’s character best.
“They met and George asked her out,” he said. “He told her to wear a formal dress and he appeared at her door, also dressed formally. He took her out on a very expensive night in Manhattan, night clubs and the rest. Then she didn’t hear from him for a month, and he called again, making the same invitation, same night on the town. And again. She thought, ‘Wow, I have met a rich guy.’ But he was only inviting her after selling a cartoon, blowing the whole fee on a night out. As Dione said, ‘I thought he was rich but eccentric, and I learned that he was only eccentric.’”
East Setauket architect Robert Reuter considered George Booth a treasured friend and worked in the same Stony Brook building with the cartoonist where they both had studios.
“It was sometimes just hilarious because I would be working on the other side of the wall, and all of a sudden there would be a bellow of laughter where he had drawn something or written something or whatever that just cracked him up so much,” Reuter said.
He would often get a peek at some of The New Yorker cartoons, and Booth gave Reuter’s son, Jordan, drawing lessons “from the time he could hold the pencil.”
The architect said the cartoonist was a generous man, creating illustrations for Frank Melville Memorial Park and other organizations and people.
Reuter said over the years Booth used BIC and similar pens because he liked the “blobby ink.” Often he would draw a few versions of a character and then choose one to put into the cartoon by copying and pasting. He also was known for using Wite-Out.
Reuter said Dione was a brilliant gardener. “There was a time when her abilities as a decorator and designer, especially in landscapes, was highly revered.”
Nancy Bueti-Randall, of Stony Brook, met the couple in the 1980s when she lived in Brooklyn and was running a studio sale in St. James, and they both bought a piece of jewelry each from her. She reconnected with them when she moved to Three Village nearly 30 years ago.
“They were such an integral part of the community,” she said.
Bueti-Randall and Dione Booth belonged to the Creative Women’s Group. At each meeting, women would talk about their careers and creative pursuits.
Dione was a delightful, kind and loving person who was extremely supportive of her husband’s work and devoted to him, Bueti-Randall said. She added George consulted with his wife often.
She remembered Dione’s gardening, too, and said she made “flower arrangements that would knock your socks off.”
Bueti-Randall was also fortunate to see George Booth’s drawings in progress, and she said he always had a full workload.
“George was the most humble person,” she said. “You would never guess this man was at the top of his field.”
Bueti-Randall said Booth would go to 7-Eleven in the morning, and sit in his car for about an hour and observe people.
“He loved all kinds of people, and he was just an observer of life,” she said. “That’s what he brought to his cartoons. That was part of his work, just to sit there and observe and try to see something that was funny to him or ironic.”
The Ward Melville Heritage Organization president, Gloria Rocchio, and her husband, Richard, knew Booth and his wife. Rocchio said the cartoonist would read children stories and children’s books at the Educational & Cultural Center during WMHO’s Hot Cocoa Series.
“Richard and I admired him,” she said. “He had a very interesting life. He and his wife lived in Stony Brook for a very long time, and they wanted to be very unassuming. To many people George was a world-renowned cartoonist, and rightly so, but to many of us in Stony Brook he was just our friend George.”
George and Dione Booth leave behind their daughter Sarah, who lives in Brooklyn.
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