We travel far back in time for today’s impromptu due to a major snowstorm Wayback Wednesday column — to March of 1987 — March 25 in fact as the helpful time stamp notes. I keyed in the text of it below so the column is easier to read. But first, some back story. I was … Continue reading Wayback Wednesday column: The thankless job of reporting on porn
Past imperfect
Living the words of Dr. King in the worst of times
UPDATE FOR 2021: If the past 12 months tell us anything it's that our nation is now closer to Abraham Lincoln's worst nightmare than the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's hopeful dream. It was an exhausting year of racial strife, unrest and protests amid the ongoing problem of inequity and justice unequally applied to Black … Continue reading Living the words of Dr. King in the worst of times
Waterfalls freeze at Hanging Rock? Now that’s cold and unprecedented
I noticed the photos on Facebook over the weekend. And like most things I see on social media, I refused to believe it. Then again, one of the photo sources is among the most trustworthy people I know -- my longtime friend from high school and college, Tip Wood. Tip wouldn't lead me astray, would … Continue reading Waterfalls freeze at Hanging Rock? Now that’s cold and unprecedented
North Carolina loses again to Alabama in big game auto wars
The announcement that Toyota-Mazda veered from building a joint auto manufacturing plant in Randolph County and straight into Alabama was a major blow for North Carolina -- again. The hailed megasite in Randolph County was groomed for just such an enterprise. North Carolina economic development officials have drooled over landing a auto-building plant for a … Continue reading North Carolina loses again to Alabama in big game auto wars
Foreshadowing: Looking back, the end was obvious
A couple of years ago I wrote a column about some newspaper resolutions I had on one of those giddy -- not to mention halcyon -- reporting and editing days way, way back in 1990. In hindsight those were great days. Sure the Internet had emerged as something very real and was becoming a noticeable … Continue reading Foreshadowing: Looking back, the end was obvious
Another Taylor Christmas, another visit to the emergency room
Author's update: I wrote the story below about in 2015 or so a family Christmas tradition that really needs to stop. Yet it continued on Christmas Eve this year -- with me. Yes after being hospitalized in September, unable to work or do much of anything else without an oxygen tank and being largely bound … Continue reading Another Taylor Christmas, another visit to the emergency room
Then one smoky Christmas Eve
I few years ago I wrote about Christmas Eve memories of going to my grandparents house on my mother's side of the family. It was a great event with a house full of rowdy men and children along with the women who did the real work and put up with the shenanigans. I'm only slightly … Continue reading Then one smoky Christmas Eve
‘You can’t trust nobody’
My late Italian father-in-law, who came to the United States in the 1950s and learned to speak English by watching Martin and Lewis movies, had a frequently quoted saying in the family. It goes like this: "You can't trust nobody." Often the man we called "Papa Joe" made this observation during the holiday season, a … Continue reading ‘You can’t trust nobody’
The unsolved mystery of the John Lennon memorial
In the Some Things You Never Forget Department . . . Today marks another anniversary of the murder of singer / songwriter / social activist and former member of the Beatles John Lennon -- gunned down outside his New York City apartment on the night of Dec. 8, 1980. I'm often reminded by friends from … Continue reading The unsolved mystery of the John Lennon memorial
The story of Big Dave, a big man with an equally big heart
I probably should've posted this on what has become Giving Tuesday -- the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and Black Friday, and Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday and whatever they think of next to fill the hours on Sunday. It's inevitable. For many of us giving is something that's a part of the season stretching from … Continue reading The story of Big Dave, a big man with an equally big heart
Madison's Avenue 