Mystery Bust No Longer, Call Her Lorraine

East Hampton Library officials finally know the origins of a mysterious statue that was left at the construction site in early May.

Dennis Fabiszak, the library director, said the mystery was solved this week and the head is that of Lorraine DellaPenna. Her husband, Nick, made the sculpture about 10 years ago for Janice Tooman, a good friend of Lorraine's who lives in Sag Harbor.

The couple, who are still alive, used to live in Babylon, but moved to Woodstock 20 years ago.

So how did the sculpture end up at the library?

"Our framing company is also doing work on Mrs. Tooman's home," Fabsizak said. "One of the construction workers was afraid the sculpture would be damaged on her property during the construction so he put the head in his the work truck. One of the other workers took the head out of the truck at the library so he could get some tools and stuck it on the fountain. Since that day he has not been back to the library and didn't know that we were trying to figure out where it came from," he said.

Library officials found the statue, attached to a piece of slate, inside the library construction site on top of an old fountain. Weighing about 50 pounds, it has an inscription on the back that reads "My Wife Forever Della Penna."

Fabiszak tried to research the name, and asked for input from local historians and museums, but came up with nothing.

Then, on June 5, one reader wrote, "I can solve the mystery. The sculpture is by an artist named Nick DellaPenna of his wife Lorraine. They live in Woodstock, NY." East Hampton Patch and Fabiszak received emails following up.

Fabiszak was surprised the explanation ended up being so simple. "Although the truth was not as exciting as the various scenarios we had imagined it is great to have solved the mystery," he said.

Tooman agreed to let the sculpture remain, at least until the construction is finished, Fabiszak said.