Eva Amurri is a movie and TV actress, designer, mom of 3, one many active young Westport moms — and a major social infuencer.
She’s one of Westport’s best-known celebrities, but you also find her everywhere: picking up at school, at the store, involved in many projects.
Today we find her at the Westport Library, for our “06880” podcast. Click here or below to learn more about her life, and our town.
For more than 20 years, Paris Looney has helped the most vulnerable people in our community.
As vice president and chief operating officer of Homes with Hope, every day Paris helps people in crisis find a safe place to sleep.
Now her own family needs help.
Six years ago, Paris’ son Don was diagnosed with stage 5 kidney disease. He has relied on life-sustaining dialysis for many years.
Paris’ youngest daughter Tausha was found to be a 100% compatible match for her brother. A mother of 4 who tutors 2nd-grade children with learning disabilities who come from military families, she lives in Massachusetts.
One day earlier this month, Don and Tausha had surgery at Hartford Hospital. The transplant was successful. Both went home 6 days later, and are doing well.
But the road ahead is long, and expensive. Don will need lifelong medications and ongoing follow-up care. Tausha, still recovering from major surgery, will be out of work and away from her family routine while she heals.
A GoFundMe campaign has set a goal of $20,000. All funds go directly to Paris, and will help cover:
Every gift, of any amount, helps. Click here to support the Looney family.
Tausha and Don Looney, recovering.
The 2026 election is here.
Early voting starts Monday (October 19) and continues through Sunday, November 1.
Early voting locations are open 7 days a week throughout the state, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Extended hours (8 a.m. to 8 p.m.) are set for Tuesday, October 27 and Thursday, October 29.
Westport’s early voting site is the Town Hall auditorium.
On Election Day (Tuesday, November 3), all regular polling places will be open.
(Photo/Mark Yurkiw)
The Y’s Men of Westport and Weston have a robust speakers series.
Most are at their regular meeting place: Saugatuck Church.
This past Thursday, they moved to the Westport Library. They knew this one would draw a huge crowd.
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo did not disappoint.
After 40 years in sports broadcasting, he knows his stuff.
Well, maybe not all of it.
Mad Dog predicted that the Dodgers would win the World Series, likely over Cleveland. That won’t happen.
He also said that Major League Baseball would lose at least a month next season to a labor dispute, and that the NBA is headed for an especially strong year, fueled by major-market rivalries and rising young stars.
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, at the Westport Library. (Photo/Allan Siegert)
With many Americans living longer*, the New York Times recently asked readers who are getting close to their sell-by date about longevity.
Several hundred responded. One was our own Miggs Burroughs. He is, after all, 80 years old. Though no one (least of all him) can believe it.
The very energetic, creative, talented, still-working-hard, always-willing-to-volunteer artist made the cut.
On Thursday, the Times printed his response:
No matter our age, health or station in life, we are all passengers on the same planet and live through the same 24 hours each day. My father who died at 80, the age I am now, used to say that there is no shame in being the best passenger you can be during the ride.
My mother who lived to 102 held grudges to the day she died. A friend said that her behavior was like setting her own hair on fire, hoping the people who had done her wrong would choke on the smoke. Longevity is no guarantee of enlightenment, but enlightenment never grows old.
Well said, Miggs! To read the many other interesting responses. click here.
*The jury is still out on whether this is something good.
Miggs Burroughs, at 80. (Photo/Tony Cenicola for The New York Times)
Nearly a dozen former and current Representative Town Meeting (RTM) members gathered at La Plage yesterday, for their annual Restaurant Week lunch.
They looked forward to a tour of the newly renovated were all invited back to take a tour of the all new renovated Inn at Longshore.
But there was a wedding party there. The group was offered a rain check — and promised to return.
Lunch at La Plage.
Sea Bags — the new popup shop in Bedford Square — is honoring Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
20% of gross sales from the 2026 Hope In Bloom Collection will be donated directly to National Breast Cancer Foundation to support early detection, education, and patient support services for those affected by breast cancer.
Peter Maloney died at his Westport home on Tuesday. He was 77.
Peter fought a long battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, but was determined to live his life to the fullest until the very end. He worked at Bloomberg for 28 years, retiring this past July.
He enjoyed spending time outside: on a golf course, swimming at Compo Beach, or hiking anywhere from Redding, CT to the Catalonia Coast of Spain.
He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Carol, and children Tim, John and Kate; brothers Edward and Jeffrey Maloney; sisters Maureen Bowen, Mari Maloney and Tara Parsley; 15 in-laws, and 21 nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his brother James Maloney and sister Barbara Maloney.
A mass will be held at St. Luke Church on Monday (October 19, 11 a.m., with a reception to follow.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the Bronchiectasis Research and Education Fund at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, or West Haven Community House.
Peter Maloney
Fall continues to inspire, with ever-changing colors. Today’s “Westport … Naturally” images comes from the Lansdowne condos.
(Photo/Lauri Weiser)
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And finally … in honor of Miggs Burroughs, and the New York Times’ celebration of longevity (item above):
NOTE: Neil Young was 26 when he wrote this.
(“06880” readers are old, young, and everything in between. And — no matter what age — all are welcome to click here, to support this 17-year-old, young-at-heart hyper-local blog.)
Last month, Christ & Holy Trinity Church honored the memory of 9/11 with a screening of “The Trees: Growing a Forest at Ground Zero.”
The documentary — filmed over 5 years, telling the story of life returning to Ground Zero through the men and women who designed, grew, built and maintain living examples of New York’s resiliency — was followed by a conversation with the producer and director, Scott Elliott.
He did not have far to travel. He’s a Westport resident. Until a recent move from Compo Shopping Center to Norwalk, he worked here too.
On September 11, 2001, Elliott — an Amherst College English and history graduate –was editing his first documentary 20 blocks from the World Trade Center. “The Trees” brought together his interests in gardening, architecture and urban design.
Scott Elliott
He had already worked on his first feature length documentary, “Slumming It: Myth and Culture on the Bowery,” about the history of that neighborhood. It aired on PBS 3 years later, in 2003.
Elliott founded, and serves as creative director, of 590films. Their tagline is “Helping Good People Tell Great Stories.”
His documentary “Into the Gyre,” about plastic pollution in the Atlantic Ocean, won international film festival awards.
In 2019, married and with their second child on the way, Elliott and his wife started looking at suburbs.
After searching all over the tri-state region, they fell in love with Compo Bach — and everything else about Westport. They knew no one here, but quickly made friends.
Elliott is one of many Westporters doing creative film work, outside of New York. He applies his documentary style to 20 or so corporate clients — many of them non-profits.
He’s worked with the Biden Foundation, The Floating Hospital, Harlem Children’s Zone and New York City public schools. (His roster includes private schools too, like Greens Farms Academy, Hotchkiss and Deerfield.)
He has turned down work from clients whose positions he does not agree with — anti-LGBTQ and anti-choice, for example.
“I questioned whether non-profits would be a good business move,” he says. “They don’t pay like corporate videos do.
“But if you can be successful doing what you love; if your mission aligns; if you’re happy and proud, that sets a good example for your kids.”
Click here or below for a clip from “The Trees.”
(“06880” often profiles interesting Westporters, doing intriguing things. If you enjoy stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Massimo Tullio has spent more than 25 years in hospitality.
He grew up in New Canaan, in a family with southern Italian roots. After working with wineries, and making Norwalk’s Fat Cat Pie Company a destination, he helped open The Whelk in 2012. Connecticut Magazine named it the Best New Restaurant, and it earned many other honors. He also helped open Kawa Ni nearby.
In early 2025 Massimo took over The Whelk completely, and turned the fomrer Don Memo downtown into Massi Co.
It was no whim. He spent the spring training in Italy, learning all about Neapolitan pizza. It’s been one of Westport’s hottest restaurants for the past year.
The other day, Massimo walked a few yards over to the Westport Library. We chatted about all things food-related. Click here or below, for our mouth-watering conversation.
Posted in Library, Media, Restaurants
Tagged "06880" podcast, Massi Co., Massimo Tullio, The Whelk
In January 2024, a thunderclap headache in Los Angeles — 3,000 miles from home — sent John Duffield, a 43-year-old healthcare marketing executive and former triathlete, to the hospital with a brain bleed.
He’s a Southport resident; his children went to Christ & Holy Trinity Preschool, where his wife Janet teaches.
Within 6 months John went from “the healthiest person I knew, to a man recording goodbye videos for my wife and children, set to send automatically. Just in case.”
John spent his career helping global brands innovate, most recently with artificial intelligence. When his life came apart, he used those tools to survive.
“What it did astonished me,” he says.
“It answered at 2 a.m. when the fear was loudest, and covered the hours no clinician could. I was living inside a preview of what care will look like for all of us.”
The workup uncovered a heart defect he had been born with: a bicuspid aortic valve, a severe leak, and an aortic aneurysm.
John Duffield
Six months later, a valve-sparing procedure, repairing John’s own valve instead of replacing it. Twenty days later, a leaking mitral valve put him back on the operating table for a second open-heart surgery.
What followed was 43 nights across 3 health systems: atrial fibrillation and a cardioversion, fluid drained from his lungs 4 times, a staph infection in his chest incision, a debridement, and 6 weeks on a wound vac.
Janet slept on fold-out benches and recliners, tracked every medication, and caught errors in his transfer paperwork. She was his caregiving lifeline.
John used AI to decode reports, prepare questions for his doctors, weigh whether to risk a 3rd open-heart surgery, and explain his condition to his children. He filmed it all as it happened.
Recovery brought discoveries of its own. AI surfaced a possible link between his brain bleed and his heart disease. Genetic testing at Yale found an inherited variant associated with elevated cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk.
In June 2025, a dangerously slow heart rhythm caught on stage in Chicago led to a pacemaker.
Now, John is releasing “The Future Patient.” It tells the full story, with a foreword by his surgeon, nd dozens of QR-linked videos recorded from the ICU bed to the hospital rooftop.
The book’s launch takes place in New York City tonight (Tuesday), 5:30 p.m.), near Grand Central. It includes fellow heart patients and colleagues from health, life sciences, advertising and technology. The conversation will focus on where patient care is heading, and how to make the patient experience clearer for everyone who comes after us. Click here for details.
(To order “The Future Patient,” and for more information, click here.)
(“06880” often profiles the remarkable lives of local residents. If you enjoy stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
October is Cyber Security Awareness Month.
Timing is everything. Last week I suffered a major email hack — and a harrowing identity theft.
Which are 2 great reasons why this podcast with Sam Disraelly is so timely.
Not to mention, vitally important.
After careers in the military, and working with firefighters and 911 dispatchers, Sam found another way to help people.
He founded Your Tech — a 1-stop cybersecurity firm that is the gold standard in the field.
Sam is creative, passionate, and whip smart. He knows how to stalk and beat the bad guys. And he did it all without making me feel like I was the dumbest creature on the planet.
If you use the internet at all — and by reading this, you do — you need to learn as much as you can about cybersecurity.
This podcast is a fantastic way to start. Click here or below to begin.
Posted in Local business, Media, technology
Tagged cybersecurity, Sam Disraelly, YourTech.team
When Stella DiGeronimo’s grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, the Westport teenager spent a lot of time with him at his Southport facility.
She wanted to know more, about him and the other residents. That sent her down a rabbit hole of information.
Stella realized the importance of talking to senior citizens. The more she did, the more she understoo how much “nuance and depth” they had.
And the more she recognized the need to write down those stories.
Stella already had a lot on her plate. A senior 3-sport athlete — field hockey, and captain of both the ski and softball teams, as well as president of the Democratic Women of Staples — she nonetheless encouraged her friends Sammy Stevenson and Alex Price to join the new venture.
They found the Legacy Project. The national non-profit, which began at Tufts University, connects younger and older adults for multigenerational friendship and storytelling. Together they combat social isolation and loneliness, and document life stories.
There are about 70 chapters nationwide. Nearly all are at colleges; a few are in high schools.
The girls reached out to the Westport Center for Senior Activities. Nine Staples students — Stella, Alex, Sammy, Addison Dennett, Hayley Epstein, Mehmet Madigan, Emerson Menoni, Piper Salik and Ella White — were paired with older men and women.
Then the fun — the conversations — began.
Some students used scripts. Some asked about “themes” love, hardship, etc.) They met often, in a variety of settings.
Stella — paired with Penny Pearlman — just started asking questions about the older woman’s life. Things flowed freely from there.
When Penny’s husband died, she felt as if she’d lost her identity. So, she told Stella, she picked up flamenco dancing.
The idea came on a whim. She spent a month in Spain with a group of much younger women. And Penny does not speak Spanish.
“That was so inspiring!” Stella says.
From left: Stella DiGeronimo (center) with Penny Pearlman and Maggie DiGeronimo.
Each interview was recorded. Stella transcribed them all into a large Google doc. Every teen turned their interview into a story.
Another woman described her many years abroad, as the wife of a NATO diplomat. She had no official title, but she organized refugee operations at dozens of sites across Europe.
Other interviewees told other stories about their long, remarkable — and often untold — lives.
The result is a book: “The Art of Flying Anyway.” The Legacy Project takes care of all publication details, as it does for several books a year.
The title comes from something one of the interviewees said: a bumblebee should not be able to fly, but it does.
The cover — complete with bees — was created by the teens and seniors together.
“The Art of Flying Anyway” is available on Amazon (click here for details).
“This is really important,” Stella says. “Social media shows current information. But so much history is being lost or forgotten.”
It’s important to her personally, too.
“I got such a better grasp on life,” Stella says about the project.
“We’re taught that things are always linear, from point A to B.
“I realize now things don’t always go the way they’re planned. It’s more about how you react to things, that really makes up a life.”
(Stella thanks several key players who helped along the way, including the communities at The Residence, Maplewood at Southport, and the Westport Senior Center, including director Wendy Petty; The Legacy Project and co-founder and CEO, Arielle Galinsky, and Rozanne Gates, founder of The Legacy Project USA, an independent organization.)
(“06880” frequent reports on stories about Westport teenagers, older residents — and everyone in between. If you enjoy stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Posted in Media, Staples HS, Teenagers
Tagged Stella DiGeronimo, Westport Center for Senior Activities
School starts soon. And Wakeman Town Farm is wasting no time rolling out its fall programs. They include:
Click here for details and registration,
Plein air painting
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The Westport Farmers’ Market is 20 years old this year.
Beyond providing hundreds of shoppers with fresh produce and herbs, meats, seafood, breads, ice cream, lunch, Thai food, pet food and knife sharpening each week, they feed over 50,000 people a year through partnerships with the Gillespie Center, Homes for the Brave, Norwalk Arts Space and Cardinal Shehan Center.
To celebrate — and raise funds — they’ve planned a special, intimate event. “Fork It Over” (September 17, 6 p.m., Terrain) features several Big Names (and friends of the Market): Jen Bengtson (Terrain Café), Dan Kardos (Café Melba), Hoodoo Brown Team, John Nealon and Christian Wiki (Crust Issues) and Piereluigi Mazzella (Fatto a Mano).
Click here for tickets, and more information.
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In February, Rob Simmelkjaer and his daughters traveled to Kenya.
They visited Tirop’s Angels, a non-profit created after elite runner Agnes Tirop was murdered by her domestic partner. The Simmelkjaers spoke with many victims of gender-based violence, an importand issue in the country.
This week Julia — a rising Staples High School senior — announced a “Back to School 5K.” The virtual race will benefit Tirop’s Angels.
Julia is getting many Staples cross country teammates to run, and invites anyone else interested — anywhere in the world — to join them, for a $25 donation.
The race is open through September 13. Runners can race individually, or as part of a team.
Need more incentive than helping a great cause? Runners with the fastest men’s and women’s times get complimentary entry into New York Road Runners’ United Airlines NYC Half Marathon in March.
To register, download the MoveZenGo app here, and use the link. Follow @juliasimmelkjaer on Instagram; she explains each step.
In Kenya, Tirop’s Angels is building a safe house for abused women. Above (left to right): Annika, Rob and Julia Simmelkjaer, with Viola Cheptoo. She founded the Angels, and is an elite runner who will compete in the New York Marathon this November.
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Last December, “06880” reported that the building next to Five Guys — which old-timers still think of as IHOP, and newer-comers know as the Westport Pancake Shop and/or one of many nail salons — would have a new tenant.
JetSet Pilates — the Miami-based “market leader in Reformer Pilates.” with 100 locations open, or in development — would open there.
“In mid-summer,” we said.
Well, that’s come and gone. And here was the scene yesterday:
(Photo/Colin Livingston)
We have no clue whether it’s still the future site of JetSet Pilates.
And if so, when the Jet Setters will move in.
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The Westport Country Playhouse has just added 2 new — and very different — shows.
Coming up next in their Barnstormer Series: “The History of a Brief Time” (September 8, 7 p.m.).
Written and performed by Bill Williams, it tells the very personal story of the loss of his son to opioid addiction. Called a “vividly, beautifully and painfully described experience,” it’s one family’s journey through struggle, grief and, ultimately, healing.
Tickets are $20. Click here to purchase, and for more information.
On September 19 (1 and 4 p.m.), the big red dog Clifford–bounds onto the stage. The new musical comedy adventure (named for him) celebrates friendship, imagination, and the magic of unconditional love.
It’s a show for Clifford’s young fans — and nostalgic parents who remember him too. Click here for tickets, and more information.
For the full fall Playhouse schedule, click here.
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Matthew Mandell reports: “The crowd was Comfortably Numb as The Machine — the internationally touring Pink Floyd tribute band — returned to Westport for an exceptional show at the Levitt Pavilion last night.
“They first played here during COVID at the drive-in concerts hosted by the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce and the Westport Library on the Imperial Avenue parking lot.”
This weekend at the Levitt:
Click here for more information, and tickets.
The Machine, at the Levitt. (Photo/Matthew Mandell)
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Recently, while visiting the John F. Kennedy Library & Museum in Boston, Staples High School Class of 1967 graduate Ron Berler bought a copy of a book he had last read in high school: “Profiles in Courage.”
He was struck, he said, by its currency. “The same issues that tempered brave acts in some members of Congress when Kennedy published his book in 1956 apply today: The fear of losing their next election. Of being tarred as traitors by their party. Of submitting to power. Of forfeiting pride and honor.”
It made him appreciate all the more “those few in Congress who have demonstrated true courage – even if just once.”
As he thought about the type of person he’d like to see in municipal, state and national offices, he wrote an essay. It was just published in Washington Monthly, under the headline “What is Political Courage?” Click here to read Berler’s piece.
Ron Berler
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Congratulations to winners of the Longshore Women’s Golf Association’s Invitational: Sarah Kim, Sally Rogol, Debbie Thron and MarthaLee Taylor.
Lnnch followed the competition, in the newly (and beautifully renovated) Inn at Longshore ballroom.
Members and guests donated food and money to Homes with Hope, this year’s designated charity.
The LWGA — going strong since 1960 — is open to all women golfers from Westport and surrounding towns.
From left: Sarah Kim, Sally Rogol, Debbie Thron, MarthaLee Taylor, and Longshore head professional Jon Janik.
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Next Saturday’s “Movie Under the Stars” — a Weston tradition — is a double feature.
Local band Good Godfrey open the show (August 29, 6 p.m.; free) at the Weston Middle School Field.
The 8 p.m. film is “National Treasure,” starring Nicholas Cage. It is an apt choice, as the country celebrates its semiquincentennial.
Tony’s Pizza Truck will be on hand, at the Weston Commission for the Arts and 250th Advisory Committee event.
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One of the (many) pleasures of walking around the Compo Beach neighborhood are the gardens bordering lots of homes.
This one caught our eye, for today’s “Westport … Naturally” featured image:
(Photo/Sunil Hirani)
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And finally … on this date in 1902, the Cadillac Motor Company was founded.
(“06880” is the Cadillac of local blogs. But you don’t have to support us at that level. A Ford, or even Yugo level is fine. Please click here to donate what you can. Thank you!)
Westporters love Jamie Camche’s jewelry — at her JL Rocks store, and Bungalow.
Jamie is one of a number of successful women business owners here. Theother day, we chatted at the Westport Library about her work, her life in Westport, and much more.
Click here and below for an interesting look into Westport’s small — in name only — business community.
Posted in Library, Local business, Media
Tagged "06880" podcast, Bungalow, Jamie Camche, JL Rocks
Tom Karrel grew up in Westport, and is a 2012 graduate of Staples High School. His new book, “The Lost Art of Random Conversations,” has just been published. Tom writes:
“If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.” — Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
The other day, my partner Taylor and I stopped by the Organic Market. After a month full of eating all the sugar and bread we could find, we decided it was time to reset with a juice cleanse.
Tom Karrel
While waiting, a woman overheard us chatting and introduced herself. Within minutes, we discovered she is living in my hometown of Westport, but had grown up in the same neighborhood in Santa Barbara, California, where Taylor and I are moving this fall.
What started as a spontaneous moment turned into a genuinely meaningful conversation. We skipped the standard “What do you do?” scripts, and talked instead about how each of us has learned (or struggled) to make friends in new places.
We talked too about what makes a community feel welcoming enough to lower your guard, offer a compliment, or check in on a deeper level with a stranger.
Returning to Westport this summer, I’ve spent time driving around the Staples campus to see what looks different and what has stayed exactly the same. I’ve taken slow drives through the neighborhoods of old friends, grabbed a greasy sandwich at Fortuna’s and a toasted bagel at Village Bagels, and walked the familiar shores of Compo, Burying Hill and Sherwood Island.
While marveling at everything that looks fancy and new in town, what stands out most are those childhood memory spots that have not aged at all, in the absolute best way.
However, alongside that beautiful nostalgia is a louder realization: We’re all glued to our phones. Walking along the Saugatuck River, sitting on the wall at Compo or waiting for a table near the Black Duck or Kawa Ni, I notice heads constantly tilted down toward glowing rectangles.
We live in one of the most beautiful, idyllic towns in America. Yet so often we stare at our phone screens instead of actually looking up, or stopping to take in all the beauty and diverse people around us.
Sitting on the Compo Beach cannons — with cell phones. (Photo/Fred Cantor)
We all know it. But if nothing changes, nothing changes.
Whenever I come back to town, I get caught in this too. So this time, I’ve made a point to reach out to fellow Staples grads now spread across the globe.
As we catch up on where life has taken us, the conversation inevitably drifts toward the same realization: No matter how impressive our careers or titles may look on paper, everyone is hungry for a genuine sense of community and belonging, wherever they are.
Few have truly found it — myself included.
At Staples we were taught to strive, lead, and make our mark on the world. Westport excels at raising high achievers. But in a world where artificial intelligence automates routine tasks and screens consume our attention, shouldn’t our definition of success evolve?
Are we teaching our young people to be leaders who know how to build real human connection, or are we just training them to chase status and wealth?
True leadership is not just about financial success; it’s about having the courage and capacity to bring people together, lower social barriers, and make the places we live feel like tight-knit communities again.
In my new book, “The Lost Art of Random Conversations,” I advocate for LARC: the daily practice of starting spontaneous, face-to-face interactions in an increasingly lonely, anxious and phone-addicted world.
“Random” doesn’t mean aimless, though. It means being open to unscripted moments of human connection with anyone, from complete strangers to neighbors, colleagues, and our closest friends and family.
Prolonged loneliness carries health risks comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. One in 4 adults worldwide report feeling profoundly isolated. We are the most digitally connected generation in history, yet statistically we feel the most alone.
The true measure of a strong community isn’t found in real estate values or pristine beach passes. It comes down to one question: If you disappeared for a month, how many people in town would notice?
Maintaining Westport’s strong, welcoming community doesn’t require a complex Town Hall initiative or new non-profit. It starts with simple micro-choices made by each of us individual Westporters every day. For example:
Unplug in local lines. Put your phone in your pocket while waiting at Gold’s, CVS or the Farmers’ Market. Look up, make eye contact, and ask about something interesting you notice about the place and the person behind the counter.
The other, while printing labels at the UPS Store opposite Fresh Market, Tom Karrel (right) and Taylor had a great conversation with 2014 Staples grad Gene Tsai.
Go beyond the usual script. The next time you’re chatting with a shop owner or parent at a baseball game, ask one question beyond “How’s your week going?” Try: “What’s been a standout part of your summer so far?” Genuinely listen to what they say. Follow up, and show you’re actually curious to hear more.
Acknowledge familiar strangers. If you pass the same person walking their dog along the road every morning, smile and say hello. Say the thing you’re both thinking: “Hey, we walk by each other all the time but I’ve never said hello. I’m [your name]!”
Westport’s community sustains and grows when we decide to look up, take a breath, and risk having an honest, spontaneous conversation with the person standing right in front of us. Making one another feel truly welcome and at home in this place, rather than just another busy adult running around from place to place.
The next time you feel a small nudge to reach out to someone in town, go for it. You never know when a simple conversation might remind both of you what it really means to belong to this beautiful place.
(For more information about Tom Karrel’s new book, “The Lost Art of Random Conversations,” click here.)
(“06880” Opinion pages are open to all. Send submissions to 06880blog@gmail. com. To support this hyper-local blog with a tax-deductible donation, please click here. Thank you!)
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