Salem, I have to agree that Martha has not done much to endear herself even to those who live here in Westport where's she's lived for 30 years. For example, in April of 2000 she wrote an infamous article in the New York Times Magazine section entitled "Martha Stewart Leaving; Why I'm getting out of Westport." In it she said:
Yet garden tours and Westport Historical Society parties have not garnered me any new local friendships -- nor dinner invitations. nytimes.com
My wife and I were actually invited to a garden tour at her house in June of 1994, at the exact time my first son was born, so we reluctantly had to pass. Had we ended up going, perhaps I'd have been able to give you first hand experience of what she's really like as a person. Right now I can't.
Earlier this evening I asked my wife, seriously, if she thought it would be fun to invite Martha over for dinner since I thought she might be good company so why not? Besides, my wife cooks all sorts of great Korean dishes so at least we'd have something to serve. She said no way. She didn't think she could possibly live up to Martha's standards. She also said Martha would notice the various repairs we didn't make in our house and that things were not as neat and tidy as they could be, so why bother?
Now, I'm not saying at all Martha wouldn't be a tremendously gracious guest. The problem is that her reputation for perfection precedes her and intimidates people like my wife who isn't easily intimidated (well, at least by me :)). It may well be Martha is a genuinely nice person who is trapped by her persona and feels obligated to slight people that helped her for fear of not being seen as "perfect." Who knows. And, to be honest, who really cares? At least I don't. If I ever do get to meet her, my opinion will be formed by that meeting, not what I've read.
Perhaps the silver lining for Martha for all this is that it will allow her to let herself be portrayed as more humble, i.e. more down to earth. I guess we'll see.
- Jeff |
