August is the month for risk-takers and passion-followers.
It’s the way this last month of full-on summer just makes you want to seize any and every opportunity; try something new. Never been treading? Now’s the time to perfect playing footsie with bivalves. Never rode a horse? Let this month’s equestrian destination, the Hampton Classic, inspire you to take a local lesson. Never been to the tippy-top of the Montauk Lighthouse? Go climb those 137 steps and gaze out upon the ocean blue!
It’s the bucket-list, seize-the-moment month of summer, and there’s a little bit of that in the stories on the pages of this “Endless Summer” issue.
I really loved hearing the story of Jean Mackenzie, and how a chance meeting at a party was the source of love at first sight with her husband, Paul “Clamman” Koster. The two took a chance on opening a brick-and-mortar fish shop back in the early ‘80s, but after he passed away in 2000, Jean and her family mustered up their strength and courage to step into the lead role that Paul held from the get-go. She could have sold it and gone back to her career in nursing, but instead she took the risk to push forward, learning parts of the business she’d never had to handle before and deciding which parts to grow. Almost 35 years later, this family-owned business is still holding strong in Southampton. Whether you’re heading in for a grilled fish sandwich or something fresh and finned to make for dinner, we’re all the better for it.
Lana Bortolot’s story on James Merrell of Merrell Soule Architects punctuates how the journey is sometimes more important than the end result (and, certainly, a big part of why you end up where you end up). Merrell shrugs off the tight parameters of specific styles and instead works with his clients to find the soul of a home. When homes out here can sometimes start to take on a cookie-cutter vibe, it’s good to know the Merrells of the world are focused instead on the people as well as the place. And Charity Robey’s story on ceramicist Lora Lomuscio spins a potter’s tale of following a passion.
If you saw the movie Crazy Rich Asians, you might remember how the game of mahjong is the scene setter for the climax of the movie’s plot, all those tiles clickety-clacking while the mental battle between heroine Rachel and her difficult future mother-in-law, Eleanor, rages. Slowly but surely since that 2018 flick, the game has crept into more and more social circles, hitting a crescendo on the East End this summer with outfits like Hamptons Mahj hosting games up and down the forks. Staff writer Parker Schug learned the ropes on.
We’ve got a bunch of other things for you to check off your August to-do list, too — like getting a mudslide at Marlena’s Pack Out, nabbing a coveted rez at Miracle, finally pulling over to see what treasures are in the adorable she-shed of Kanela Studio and, in honor of the country’s 250th birthday, a reason to tempt you over to your local history center (I am, of course, partial to Shelter Island History Museum).
Grab that bucket and fill it to the brim, friends!
Amy Zavatto
Editor-in-Chief
