To the Editor:
The Letters to the Editor column is a feature that most Times readers enjoy, but in some cases that pleasure can be spoiled.
Oak Bluffs resident Erik Albert, in a letter published July 12, opposes West Tisbury’s rules for Lambert’s Cove Beach. Those rules, he says, prevent him from walking there whenever he likes. He calls this “beach apartheid,” and has had the obsession to write letters to you for more than three years, demanding that they be abolished. The letters regularly include derogatory statements about the town’s residents in general and individually by name. Beyond ignoring the usual Islander tolerance for the rules of other towns, he is also wrong on the facts and the relevant laws.
If Mr. Albert would confine himself to discussing beach policy, there could be little objection, but for his accompanying malicious remarks about West Tisbury residents there is no excuse. By continuing to publish them you associate your paper with his obsession. No one is going to sue you for libel, but it is past time for some editorial discretion.
W.R. Deeble
West Tisbury