Monday's letters: City great for art collectors, state a 'terrific' place to live
Art collectors have field day in Sarasota
We had collected art long before coming to Sarasota but arriving here we felt we had unearthed the “mother lode.”
Sarasota Estate Auction, in Burns Court, has regular auctions, advertised in the Herald-Tribune.
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We picked up a Syd Solomon-signed lithograph and a Dali-signed print from the Ringling College Collection, both at reasonable prices. We also picked up a framed abstract there for $40.
Next door, the auction owner runs a gallery filled with original oils by Solomon, Sarasota’s most famous artist. In 1945, Time magazine called him “America’s greatest modern artist.”
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We have a hand-painted chair from a gallery in Towles Court, Sarasota’s small art colony. We try to find as much handmade art as possible.
Sarasota has been called the “best city in America for estate sales,” because so many elderly people dispose of their art collections here from as far away as San Diego.
We have picked up art at auctions, garage sales, galleries, even at Goodwill. Our art collection of several hundred pieces now extends out into the lanai. Some people refer to our house as “The Museum.”
It is an addictive hobby, but Sarasota is possibly the best city in America to collect art.
Thomas L. Moses, Sarasota
Moving south to Florida the right choice
I read that some in our community plan to move to a place more in line with their personal beliefs and lifestyle. Many years ago, I decided to move away from New York state due to the abuse and degradation of the First, Second and Fourth amendments I saw there.
Today, with a population smaller than Florida’s, New York has more than twice the budget, which I see as evidence of the graft, corruption and irresponsible spending I witnessed there in my youth.
Crime has continued to spiral out of control in New York, and evidently people there are so accustomed to it that they see nothing wrong, proving their affinity for the debacle by reelecting their governor.
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Florida might not be perfect for all, but for me it is terrific, and I made the right decision to move here!
New York fits the needs of some − that cannot be contested − and for sure those who do not like the rights, stability and sound management we have here in Florida are free to move to New York or elsewhere.
Go to the place that fits your lifestyle.
Vic Lippa, Sarasota
No more free lunch, more hungry kids
So former Collier County School Board member Erika Donalds suggests Florida stop using federal funds for free and reduced-cost school lunches.
Is Donalds aware that at $2.49 per meal school lunches cost far less for all families because of how pooling works? Does she know that when a state withdraws from a federal program those funds are not then returned to taxpayers for their own use?
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Families who currently receive free or discounted lunches for their children would pay the same amount of taxes if the program ended, and they wouldn’t have any more money in their pockets to spend on school lunches.
They just wouldn’t have access to the pool allowing an extremely modest cost for lunch (and breakfast) thanks to federal subsidies.
Thus, eliminating federal lunch programs will “free” parents to pay what the market will bear, closer to $5-$10 per child.
Increasing childhood hunger aside, think about how that will affect health care costs, inflation, public unrest and, potentially, a far less well educated electorate down the road.
Perhaps that is the conservative end goal, but is it yours?
Holly Downing, Sarasota
Common sense a rare commodity
Is common sense an oxymoron in the USA?
∎ Larry Summers, former Harvard president, prominent Democrat and highly respected economist, told President Joe Biden and team that huge spending bills not offset by the generation of goods and services would ignite massive inflation. He was ignored. Inflation soared!
∎ Biden claims our borders are secure as thousands of immigrants illegally cross every day.
∎ The majority of Americans voted against Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections – and against the candidates Trump endorsed and supported in 2022. Yet Trump plans to run for president in 2024.
∎ Affirmative action has favored the admission of less qualified students to our leading universities. That ignores meritocracy, the basis of our historical greatness, standard of living and world prominence.
∎ Trump and Biden are too old to be elected president in 2024. Biden struggles with words and actions and Trump can’t be trusted.
Thomas G. Moore, Bradenton
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota possibly best city in America for collecting art
