THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 7, 1995 TAG: 9506070474
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: GUY FRIDDELL
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Edward F. Bacon, who as an editor used to make this column look better than it deserved, finds himself in agreement, for once, with me for defending Cindy Crawford.
The model had disclosed that Richard Gere, a worldly sophisticate if ever there was one, had criticized her for mispronouncing ``epitome.'' She called it epitoam, which one day will prevail, anyway. He'll be sorry.
``Whether Cindy Crawford knows how to pronounce `epitome' is completely irrelevant,'' Ed writes.
``Gere is in the position of the hero of Nathaniel Hawthorne's `The Birthmark,' finding a minute flaw in an otherwise perfect woman.
``A good test for Gere would be to ask him to pronounce `misanthrope.' I'll bet he would pronounce it mis-an-thro-pee, as I did until I studied Moliere's play in college. Cindy would get it right.''
Hawthorne's stories always pack a powerful moral. It stays with you.
``The Birthmark,'' Ed noted, concerns a fellow whose wife was completely lovely and perfect physically and mentally, except for one tiny, almost imperceptible birthmark.
``At first he ignored it, but it remained in the back of his mind and as time went on, it became a bigger and bigger consideration to him. Finally he persuaded her to have it removed, and once the birthmark was gone, she died.''
Without the birthmark, Ed observed, she was no longer herself. She had lost her humanity.
Tell that one at the next beer bust! Sober everybody in a hurry.
Ed is co-leader with Les Atkins of the Great Neck Writers Group, which meets every Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the Great Neck Recreation Center in Virginia Beach.
Ed and Les are the ``facilitators,'' a ten-dollar word that won't buy you an ice cream cone at Bergey's.
``They're a very creative bunch,'' Ed said. A dozen or so come from all over Hampton Roads to read their latest works.
Though the gathering is scheduled to last two hours, it is apt to run over in discussions of such things as ``The Birthmark.''
Ed has been teaching at Tidewater Community College in Virginia Beach. I'm forever meeting someone intriguing from one of our several community colleges, from Franklin to the Eastern Shore.
They are an enriching resource for all of us. I'm looking forward to the Norfolk branch coming on line. Pep up downtown.
Not long ago, a roomful of Fran Jacobson's adult students in political science in Virginia Beach were plying me with questions about Virginia politics.
It turned out many are active in politics and knew more about the topic than the guest facilitator of the afternoon.
Now for an SOS. Four elementary school pupils in Norfolk found an error in a column. Their letter drifted out of sight amid the surf of papers on my desk. To their teacher: Please call me. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Supermodel Cindy Crawford says her ex-husband, Richard Gere, had
criticized her for mispronouncing ``epitome.''
by CNB