Jay Me

Here on the banks of the Androscoggin River, in the dense woods of western Maine, David battled Goliath and lost. The fight was for more than jobs. It was for the soul of an old mill town and for the right of a hired hand to set a value on his own labor. The battle ended quietly and unexpectedly the other day with no concessions and no consensus. But if there is one point on which everyone agrees, it is that the long, bitter strike at the International Paper Co.'

Here on the banks of the Androscoggin River, in the dense woods of western Maine, David battled Goliath and lost. The fight was for more than jobs. It was for the soul of an old mill town and for the right of a hired hand to set a value on his own labor. The battle ended quietly and unexpectedly the other day with no concessions and no consensus. But if there is one point on which everyone agrees, it is that the long, bitter strike at the International Paper Co.'

BEFORE the Z-Boys exploded from Dogtown's dirty alleys and torturous waves to recharge skateboarding with raw style and cocky attitude, their reluctant leader, a skinny blond kid named Jay Adams, lived the innocent and bronzed existence of a true California beach boy. He cut barefoot across cracked driveways on a clay-wheeled plank, carved comfortably along waves peeling off Malibu Point and piled into the family wagon for safaris through Baja, Mexico.

Too late your story on the Jay, Me., paper mill battle showing how the Reagan-Bush Administration breaks towns--health and hearts--by deregulation and aiding in union-breaking tactics. Air controllers, loggers, interstate bus drivers, newspaper printers and even football players were hurt by the "profits before people" conduct of the Reagan Administration. Yes, too late for the people of Jay, who have to live with no jobs and broken friendships. Also too late to aid Democratic candidates Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen.

Leaders of the paperworkers union told grim-faced members in Jay, Me., they were abruptly ending a bitter 16-month-old strike against International Paper Co. mills by 2,300 workers in three states. The union said the move will give strikers first crack at any jobs vacated by non-union employees who now run the mills in Jay; De Pere, Wis.; and Lock Haven, Pa. The workers, including 1,200 in Jay, went on strike June 16, 1987, when the union rejected a concessionary contract.

Last year, The Times published an interview with Jay Leno containing a joke I believed to be homophobic, and I complained about that in a letter that Calendar printed. The morning my letter appeared, Jay called me at my home and apologized, saying he had not meant the joke to offend anyone. I was struck by the effort he made to clear up an issue that a potential fan had raised. Since then, I have found that, indeed, his comedy does not pick on groups of people--a fact that is made clear in Christon's feature.

From the moment we met, everything about our relationship was broken. I was bicycling at Gold's Gym in Hollywood, listening to Bob Dylan. I barely noticed the guy to my left. I'll call him Jay - tall, lumbering, utterly confused. He fiddled with the controls to his bike, trying not to look embarrassed. "It's broken," I shouted, not bothering to remove my headphones. He sheepishly climbed off that bike and on to another. More fiddling with the controls. I sighed, pulled off my headphones and pressed his start button.

SOMEBODY ONCE said to me, "If you had a nickel for every time somebody said to you, 'If you had a nickel for every time the phrase Brat Pack was mentioned, you'd be rich.' " It took me a little while to figure out that logic, but I think it's probably true. So I'd appreciate it if people would stop mentioning it to me, because I'm getting very depressed. About two years ago I invented the phrase Brat Pack.

Stand-up comedian Bobcat Goldthwait pleaded not guilty Thursday to misdemeanor charges of unlawfully setting his chair on fire during a May 6 taping of "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." The New York-born entertainer, who appeared in some of the "Police Academy" movies, waived his right to appear for an arraignment at Burbank Municipal Court. Instead, Goldthwait's lawyer, Peter Laird, entered the plea on his client's behalf.

Beverly Cheeseboro noticed that a horse crossing in South Pasadena was labeled a "bridal" path. The spelling was later corrected but why so soon? This is the month for weddings. And while we're at it: Clint McCarty saw a sign in a building thanking visitors for their "patients," but the notice was appropriate, in a way, since it was in a Fountain Valley hospital. Reverse snob appeal: I mentioned the Amsterdam eatery with a sign that bragged about "lousy food and warm beer."

Stand-up comedian Bobcat Goldthwait pleaded innocent Thursday to misdemeanor charges of unlawfully setting his chair on fire during a May 6 taping of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." The New York-born entertainer, who appeared in some of the "Police Academy" movies, waived his right to appear for an arraignment at Burbank Municipal Court. Instead, Goldthwait's lawyer, Peter Laird, entered the plea on his client's behalf.