THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 5, 1997 TAG: 9702050011
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 28 lines
From the beginning, when Nauticus was the stuff of dreams and conjecture, I have listened quietly to its detractors, sometimes thoughtful, sometimes strangely spiteful - always from my anonymous perch as son of its founding executive director, Jack Parker. I remember my father's excitement in those early years as we pored over architectural renderings and exhibit proposals. Slowly, I grew to appreciate and even revel in the project's potential and promise, its critics notwithstanding.
Then my growing pride in Nauticus hit something of a speed bump, when Michael Bartlett took over and radically reshaped my father's and others' vision of the National Maritime Center. To my mind, Bartlett's Disney-fication of Nauticus made it little more than a $55 million day-care center. Two visits after opening-day ceremonies were enough, and I did not return . . . until recently.
My pride in Nauticus is on the road to recovery. In the Titanic exhibition and in the film, ``The Living Sea,'' I saw flashes of what my parents and I had spoken of with such enthusiasm. And so to Nauticus naysayers I declare: Nauticus is coming back. I'm giving it another chance; won't you?
ERICH PARKER
Washington, D.C., Jan. 28, 1997