It distresses me to learn that actor/author Paul Mantee, an old acquaintance of mine, has been 86’d by the Marmalade Café for criticizing the coffee shop’s waffles in his column in The Malibu Times. I’ve always known that Paul, whose forebears were Italian, was an authority on that country’s cuisine. He is the author of a cookbook, “In Search of the Perfect Ravioli,” which I have treasured for many years. But I didn’t know he was also a connoisseur of the waffle, either Belgian or American, until his run-in with Bob, owner of Marmalade. Bob was so outraged by Mantee’s column that he told him to “go find yourself another restaurant.”
An employee said the owner not only was blackballing Mantee, but might also evict The Malibu Times from his establishment. It’s time for cooler heads to prevail. Paul and Bob must put the waffle war behind them, with an understanding that Paul will never order another one, and that Bob won’t serve him if he does. But if Bob carries out a threat to expel The Malibu Times from his premises, he will have lost the support of every Malibu resident who defends the First Amendment guarantee of a free press.
I have spent most of my life working on newspapers and will fight to the death for Marmalade’s right to under-toast a waffle now and then, Paul’s right to call attention to it, and Bob’s right to be teed off at Paul. But I’ll be damned if Bob or anyone else has the right to tell me what I may or may not read over my morning coffee at Marmalade!
Roy Ringer