Provincetown Mick Rudd

Life in America truly has changed in the short time since September but it's important to remember that not all of the changes have been detrimental to our valued way of life. In fact there is a growing awareness that underneath the wreckage of our peace of mind there is a foundation of enduring American values and a growing confidence in a democracy which grants us personal freedom bounded only by our tolerance and respect for the rights of others.

We often feel that Provincetown is an isolated enclave, a place apart from the "real" America. We even take a little pride in this perception; that in most things which count we are considered a little irrelevant or maybe even a little silly. We might also feel that because we don't have a crime rate or a major corporation in our midst that we can't be like everywhere else in America. But we are. And we are to a degree that should be self evident if we really stop to see ourselves as others do.

That's the what and the why of "I Am Provincetown." A place to look at ourselves in a way others might see us, who see that, all appearances to the contrary, we not only represent American core values but we considered them a work in progress. As we trudge to Town Hall to serve on the Zoning Appeals board, as we swim across our harbor to fight an awesome challenge to our health, as we leave our beds to answer the emergency signal from the Fire Department we work ceaselessly to make our little part of the American democracy better, a little closer to the ideals we truly support.

-- Edward 'Mick' Rudd, November 2001
Contributor, "I am Provincetown" magazine