People usually edit their memories in one way or another. Some even manage to forget specific events completely. Facebook doesn't have a selective memory function. What someone produced on their Facebook page on a random day in say, 2011, will turn up on that same day in 2017 in a daily feature the social media … Continue reading You don’t say; or how I nearly got myself killed one morning
Past imperfect
Primary Day, wedding day
May 31, 1958 It was Primary Day in North Carolina. Back then it was held on Saturday, which seems odd today. After all, who wants to vote on Saturday when most people are usually trying to rest up from the work week, catching up on chores at home, vacationing or tending to family events like, … Continue reading Primary Day, wedding day
The green vase
For the past few years I have posted this over Memorial Day Weekend. It's the strongest memory I have from my newspaper life at the Jacksonville Daily News in North Carolina, the home of Camp Lejeune, the largest Marine Corps installation on the East Coast. I'll always remember. The vase is still with me. ---- … Continue reading The green vase
Disappearing newspapers and history — casualties of time
My history is disappearing. This certainly isn’t new, but there’s not much comfort in that familiarity. It happens to us all. That is the essence of time. Time is the original son of a bitch. Old schools give way to new ones. Buildings that were once landmarks are toppled to make way for new structures. … Continue reading Disappearing newspapers and history — casualties of time
A Mother’s Day throwback column: The path not taken
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This one was published in 2015 in the Times-News. My mom didn’t set out to be the “Welfare Lady.” It just worked out that way. No, what my mom wanted to be when she grew up was a writer and a journalist. Not sure exactly what order she would place those two. Certainly … Continue reading A Mother’s Day throwback column: The path not taken
Mission almost impossible on Tax Day 1989
A memory that reveals just how much times have changed. 11:30 p.m., April 15, 1989 . . . I have no idea why I volunteered to do it, but somehow I found myself standing outside the main Burlington Post Office branch off Maple Avenue as the clock wound toward midnight on Tax Day, 1989. No … Continue reading Mission almost impossible on Tax Day 1989
There’s always a but ….
The other day I wrote to a friend of mine. The email was slugged: “I don’t want to be that guy, but …” Yeah, there’s always a “but.” My observation was about what was otherwise an outstanding newspaper story in the Burlington Times-News the other day about death penalty cases in North Carolina – how … Continue reading There’s always a but ….
It began with a bake sale . . .
Four years ago today I got another in a series of lessons regarding people – that they’re much better on average than most give them credit for. Of course it’s easy to see how anyone can be confused. Judging by what I see on social media, humanity made its last stand months and months – … Continue reading It began with a bake sale . . .
Updated: Mark and Luke Maye: The universe evens things out
Updated to correct Aloha Bowl loss instead of win. When Mark Maye was a high school football player in Charlotte he was probably the most highly recruited player in the state and among the most sought after in the nation. He was the prominent schoolboy quarterback prospect of his time. That he decided to go … Continue reading Updated: Mark and Luke Maye: The universe evens things out
Stopping the presses … for keeps
"Well, my last night as a newspaper pressman at The Times News is here. 40 page, 5 section paper. Lets get this started." -- Sherwood Bland, Times-News pressroom foreman In the history of journalism there is probably no greater cliche than the frazzled editor racing into a large room filled with incredibly noisy machinery and … Continue reading Stopping the presses … for keeps
Madison's Avenue 