Is it "better than nothing" or does it really matter, in any case?  I think
Kelso and team did a good job in relating the captain's staff to the
thought-to-be-Gosnold remains at Jamestown, with or without confirma-
tion from Suffolk DNA or mineral deposits.  But this latest controversy
is just the sort of History Channel "celebrity popularization" that gets
us off track.  Gosnold was not THE founder of the colony, as the blurb
claims, for there were many individuals and influences responsible for
Jamestown.  But the general public thinks in shorthand, and national
anniversaries have a way of creating more controversies and confusion
that did not exist previously.  The Lewis and Clark Bicentennial is a
perfect example, with Monticello, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Louisville,
and Illinois vying for the false recognition that the "expedition started
here," twisting definitions of "start" and convoluting the historical
record in the search for tourist t-shirt and ball cap dollars.  Let's keep
it real in 2007.

Fred Fausz
St. Louis

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