Mailbag - November 2018

SEEING THE WORLD For two months of his gap year, Devin Gohel (center) travelled through Southeast Asia with a group of 10, led by two guides from a company called Pacific Discovery. Pictured here during a bike ride in Vietnam, the group stays in touch.

Happy to talk gap years

Thanks for sending the article [Victory Gap: Taking a year before college, by Cheryl Ursin, October 2018}. It looks great and came out incredibly well! I already shared it with some friends and family, and they all loved it! If you get any responses from potential students interested in gap years, feel free to send them my information – I would love to talk with them.

Devin Gohel

Editor’s note: After graduating from Episcopal High School in 2016, Devin Gohel took a gap year before college and volunteered in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos before interning in Barcelona.

Was it The Golden Greek?

Maybe the restaurant Mr. Batt was trying to recall was The Golden Greek. It has been gone a long time. I enjoyed the stroll down “memory lane” [Galveston Restaurant Memories, by Russell Weil, July 2018]. Fun to read “good news” in this crazy world. Love Galveston and have been going all my life. In fact, I have postcards my mom sent my dad before they married in 1936. Keep up the good work.

Linda Kimball

Editor’s note: David Batt had written to us to identify a Galveston restaurant he remembered from long ago, and we included his letter in October’s Mailbag.

Nope, it was Gaido’s and Hill’s

Thank you so much for your continued follow through regarding our memory of Galveston seawall restaurants. After considering this most recent suggestion and your earlier feedback, we have come to the conclusion that the places we remember are Gaido’s and Hill’s. We can’t believe you went to such trouble to help us with this. It really helped us take a reminiscent stroll down Seawall Boulevard, and for a couple of guys in their middle eighties, that means a lot.

Murray and David Batt

We vote for Karen Vine Fuller

Thank you for the article in The Buzz about George McDowell [The Good Neighbor: George McDowell’s happy-hour legacy, by Karen Vine Fuller, September 2018]. He was clearly a treasure in the community. We are lucky enough to have a similar gem in our neighborhood. Karen Vine Fuller, the author of the article about George McDowell, is eminently qualified to recognize true community spirit and a generous heart. She is the very gem of whom I speak. From the moment Karen and her husband, Andrew, moved next door to us, she astounded us with her energy and enthusiasm for connecting people together. She quickly befriended everyone.... She regularly organized street parties and get-togethers. And, most importantly, she has always been there in neighbors' times of need, drumming up support, begging for prayers and holding hands. We are grateful for stories of humanity, such as that of George McDowell, and we are grateful for every gem we find who shines as bright as him.

Kamal Busaidy

Cathy Gordon gets another fan

Cathy, I can't thank you enough for the story [For the Love of a House: A home’s farewell forges friendships, by Cathy Gordon, October 2018]! Julie and I have just finished reading it and it is wonderful! You captured the stories and details that you heard over the three hours in Gayle's house ... so well and so accurately. I hope that the current Bellaire residents share the pride of "place" with the Martin, Jambrina and Wells families that you have memorialized. Warm regards to you and the staff and publishers that made it possible.

Sid Wells

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