The Lost Spice

Of Newtown

To The Editor:

With the hosts cooking the main course, we only needed to bring one of the side dishes, yet my wife was nervous because the “Food Editor of The Newtown Bee” was coming! New to the area, one could only imagine the horror of being eviscerated in the local paper due to mundane cooking skills. But our fears were unfounded and our dinner that night with Kaaren and Jerry Valenta began a friendship that has continued for more than 20 years.

If I was to characterize Kaaren Valenta’s writing style, it would be: “Reading Glasses and Cliff Notes.” She has that innate ability to enable people to visualize the situation without strain and then presents a clear, yet uncolored analysis, leaving the reader with the opportunity to think and form their own opinions. Lest people be mistaken, she has a tremendous depth of knowledge, not just on her articles, but on a wide variety of subjects which she can instantly call upon to probe a person’s position or to articulate her own. She lends credence to the saying, “Writers are born, not made.”

Everyone can be replaced; indeed cemeteries are full of irreplaceable people. But when a person leaves a firm or a community, we all lose more than just the person. We lose the friendship, experience, creativity, generosity, and wisdom in such short supply in today’s society. Kaaren’s retirement from The Bee and her departure from Newtown is this and more, but her work and personality can be likened to a unique spice that forms such a vivid and lasting impression in the mind that it can never be forgotten or surpassed.

Sincerely,

Mark Dennen

6 Old Green Road, Sandy Hook                           December 27, 2005