Complete Text of Statement Regarding the "Weekly Stink"

[The following notice appeared in the July 31, 2006 edition of the Budapest Times.]

And to all my friends in the Academy, everyone in the cast, my first assistant director, the cinematographer, oh, the list is so long - from the very bottom of my heart I want to... Oh wait - that's my Oscar acceptance speech. Anyway, I'm not very good at giving speeches, so I'll keep this one short. After almost three years filling this page, I've decided to call it quits.

I know what you're thinking: Stink has quit because of some tiff over a censored article or an unpaid bill, or some other falling-out with the Budapest Times. Were it only that interesting! Instead, let me start by paying tribute to the editors and publisher of the Times, who have been heroic in their tolerance of a column that was designed from the beginning to be an irritant to the kinds of people that small community newspapers are generally loath to irritate. In fact, I can only remember one occasion when we fought over an item, and it was because the item wasn't mean enough. Bravo.

So why am I leaving? Unfortunately, here I'll have to trot out another cliché, and simply pin it on a desire to focus on other, mostly online, challenges. The two websites about Hungary I currently publish - www.caboodle.hu and www.pestiside.hu - will soon be joined by two more, and four hungry babies is more than enough. Meanwhile, the Stink "brand" will continue to survive online, as a weekly wrap-up of the week's news on Pestiside. I also want to finish my long-suffering novel before I forget what the damn thing is about, and have the occasional boozy lunch on Friday, rather than trying to eat a sandwich while not getting crumbs into my keyboard.

Like any dirty habit, I'm sure I will miss stinking up the Times. But I also look forward to what will come in my column's place. I am told the idea will be to focus the page on reader-driven features - sort of "Web 2.0" without the Web - with free restaurant meals and other prizes for the best letters, captions and pictures submitted. So keep your camera and notebook handy. And if you win any all-you-can-eat-and-drink voucher and have no one to use it up with, you know who to call.

It was an honor to Stink for you. - Erik D'Amato