It’s a Little Compton life

The PBS NewsHour had a slightly startling story last night: “How a small town in Rhode Island is connected to It’s a Wonderful Life .”

I visited Little Compton, Rhode Island, several times in my grad school days (a friend’s family had a summer house). I never knew about this connection. I associate Little Compton with Pete Seeger (once), blazing sunsets, and the Commons Lunch, which closed earlier this year (with a promised reopening as an event space).

And I associate the Commons Lunch with johnnycakes — crisp, thin, made from white cornmeal and milk, fried in bacon fat. I would buy a bag of cornmeal in Little Compton and make johnnycakes in Boston, but they never were as good. Whadja expect?