I write to advise you of the unfortunate passing of Young Jim (and of course his beloved goose) at the hands of the (he)artless philistines of the municipal works department. Young Jim (and his goose) were caricatures in a cartoon drawn on the side of a small building under the bridge near the boat ramp at Lakeside Park.
The cartoon depicted an oddly proportioned figure with both scrawny arms extended to grasp a goose by the neck and was captioned “Young Jim Loves goose For Lunch” [sic]. I first met Jim (and goose) just before spring of 2017 but I believe he was born in late summer of 2016 in response to the closure of Lakeside Park due to a high coliform count attributed to goose feces.
In fairness to the philistines I should note that Jim (and goose) had not recovered from last summer’s ill fated attempt to rub them out, so to speak. That attempt saw him (and goose) attacked with a solvent and left indistinct and ghostly. So ghostly in fact that what occurred recently may have been more exorcism than execution.
As one who enjoys the Bealby Point of view I find it, at a minimum ironic, that Nelson, on the eve of one of its major celebrations of public art, with grants, juries, boards, and honorariums, should choose to dispense with this authentic and accessible work of informal and non-funded public art. I don’t see why we shouldn’t have both.
Bill Levey
Bealby Point
