My grandfather, Earle Dane, was president of the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library during its 1995 expansion. A lifelong Republican, he was also a stalwart defender of free speech and inquiry who opposed McCarthyism and supported civil rights (eventually including gay rights). It’s possible my grandfather, who passed in 2008, might not personally approve of the books that a letter is asking the library to effectively pull from general circulation, but he also would not support their removal. To do so would infringe upon free inquiry and presume to act in loco parentis in a community where many families embrace sensitive discussions.

The signatories don’t constitute a spontaneous group, but rather an organized campaign targeting books regarding LGBTQ and race topics at libraries throughout Connecticut. My grandfather might have considered the books in question distasteful, but not compared to the bigotry and hypocrisy displayed here; much less the consistently immoral and dishonorable behavior demonstrated by someone many of the signatories (Republican Town Committee members) praise.

Evan E. Brown, graduate of Lyme-Old Lyme High School

Waterford