I wrote this three years ago and posted it on the night they retired the number of the best player ever produced at my high school -- South Stokes. The time when we were in high school seems impossibly long ago, 1973-77. I just saw Ken Dennard at our 40th high school reunion in September. … Continue reading Big Blue: Kenny Dennard was always different
Past imperfect
We’re Thanksgiving people
On Saturday we had a pre-Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving dinner for 20 at our home in Burlington -- and that's not the record. Three years ago I believe we had 25 for what has become known in this family circle as "The Big Dinner." And indeed, the event lives up to its name, something that evolved from … Continue reading We’re Thanksgiving people
Celebrating Nov. 18; or, how I met my spouse
This is a column I wrote in November a couple of years ago. The timing makes sense, of course, because timing is everything. Life is full of seemingly random events, but when we examine them more closely weird patterns emerge. It can be running into the same people over and over again for years before … Continue reading Celebrating Nov. 18; or, how I met my spouse
And now for a public service announcement about . . . shingles
It was in early November of 2013 when I began to notice an odd sensation on the right side of my head -- like tiny bugs with intermittently sharp claws were crawling there without stopping. It wasn't exactly painful, but not pleasant either. It was . . . wrong. It happened the week of municipal … Continue reading And now for a public service announcement about . . . shingles
Still a sticking point
A couple of years ago I got a telephone call on Election Day from someone who would one day be among my colleagues in a new job outside newspapers or even journalism. Jon Dooley, now vice president for Student Life at Elon University, rang me up on the day of Burlington's municipal elections in November of … Continue reading Still a sticking point
Throwback Thursday: A night I would rather forget
This throwback column was first written in June of 2010 but is about something that happened nearly 30 years before, an event I had neither written about nor spoken of in years. I think I felt the time was right to put it out there because of our coverage of a now deceased legislator who … Continue reading Throwback Thursday: A night I would rather forget
An enduring legacy from the Beirut massacre
Today marks a sad anniversary in U.S. history. It's one that passes without much thought for a vast majority of Americans. It's an anniversary I can never let go. That's what comes from working for 15 years in a military community, where tragedy on an almost epic scale is never far away. Jacksonville, North Carolina … Continue reading An enduring legacy from the Beirut massacre
It began with a green envelope
The first letter from a person I never met was inside a green envelope and landed unceremoniously atop my desk on Oct. 20, 2011. It started this way. "Dear Mr. Taylor, "The other day the Times-News ran an editorial which mentioned, in part, the problems the Erich and Hornbuckle families are dealing with as the … Continue reading It began with a green envelope
Still in Mike Wilder’s corner and still helping those battling cancer
There is no feeling in a workplace quite like the one when a colleague is taken in the prime of life by either accident, incident or unspeakable disease. For the Burlington Times-News in the spring of 2013 the culprit was No. 3. It was tough to watch how quickly cancer swallowed Mike Wilder, a longtime … Continue reading Still in Mike Wilder’s corner and still helping those battling cancer
A story without end, until
The lead prosecutor in the controversial 1990 murder trial of Blanche Taylor Moore died Saturday when she stepped into traffic on Interstate 485 in Charlotte, authorities said. Winston-Salem Journal This post was originally from Oct. 15, 2015 -- shortly after I read the story referenced above. Since it was written, little to my knowledge … Continue reading A story without end, until
Madison's Avenue 