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Letter: Causeway artist a pro

Re: “Kicked Out of Inner Harbour,” March 10-16
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Re: “Kicked Out of Inner Harbour,” March 10-16

Dean Lewis has been a friend of mine for over ten years and I have spent many a lunch hour hanging out next to his caricature-drawing business on the causeway, eating my lunch, soaking up the sun, and watching him go about his business drawing caricatures of tourists of all ages and backgrounds, from all over the world. My observation is that his customers recognize the wonderful product he provides and enjoy his intelligent, personable, and humorous manner. I think he’s a memorable part of these people’s trips – a person with whom they had a personal connection in a place away from their own friends and family. He puts them at ease with his relaxed manner and large vocabulary of foreign languages. Dean is a good host and ambassador for our city.

I do not see Dean as being a person who has “issues with authority.” On the contrary, he’s a student of culture and has high regard for institutions of authority which protect the rights of people. He is a very moral person and will make a stand if he senses injustice. This kind of gutsy leadership benefits all of us, including those who feel threatened by it.

Dean takes pride in all aspects of his business and is very much a professional. He is also an artist, a vocation which is often hard to make viable in a culture that usually doesn’t put much economic value on it. For an artist to lose a source of income, especially due to injustice, can be a more serious loss than a job lost in some other fields.

Dale Hitchcox, Victoria