I read with disgust the Dec. 18 column by Don DeWitt in which he alludes to the "smelly" money being used to purchase million dollar homes in Manhasset. While I certainly cannot attest to how all of our town's newest homeowners were able to afford these prices, I am able to provide some insight. First, many have sold other homes at similarly inflated prices. Second, many are dual-income households, well exceeding the high six-figure level. Others have inherited large estates from parents or grandparents. A good many are savvy investors and others were fortunate enough to not start out their adult, i.e. post-graduate, lives in debt.

Manhasset attracts many types of people, a good number of adult returnees and also those seeking easy commutes and a solid school system. Likewise, our town has benefited from the wealth it attracts by virtue of the generosity it reaps. This year, the SCA luncheon and the Manhasset Women's Coalition Against Breast Cancer's Ladies Night Out were both sold-out events.

I can only hope that the reason no one responded to the inhospitable suggestion in Mr. DeWitt's column was because no one bothered to read it. Or perhaps those large mortgage holders were too busy working.

As I am aware that Mr. DeWitt is an attorney, as he represented the sellers when my husband I purchased our home here some six years ago, I wonder if when he decides to sell his home if he will hold his purchasers' financial background to the same level of scrutiny he demands in his column or if he will simply accept the highest offer.

Christine Roberts