The Christmas season delivers a large supply of rich foods, rich gifts and rich excess of nearly every description. But it's also a season of mixed messages, confusion, conflicting expectations and an excess of poverty and despair of every description. It can be overwhelming. I'm just as likely to get down around the holidays as anyone … Continue reading Take part in this sharing season — for a friend
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‘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’
Wonder why school is called early when snow is in the forecast? Here’s why
It's every school superintendent's nightmare -- making the call to dismiss students from school or cancel the day altogether when snow is in the forecast and doing so too late. That's why on Friday night the superintendent of schools in the mountain community where I grew up posted a video apology to parents and students … Continue reading Wonder why school is called early when snow is in the forecast? Here’s why
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
Big Blue: Kenny Dennard was always different
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
One more view from the press box
I was asked a few weeks ago if I would be interested in writing a story for Elon University's alumni magazine about the magical season then unfolding for the Phoenix football team. As a former (or reformed) sports writer from my newspaper past and a sometime contributor to the Magazine of Elon I was a … Continue reading One more view from the press box
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
Fear of Charlie then, now and forever
There is no good way to say this so let's just take the direct route. When I was a kid, Charles Manson scared the shit out of me. I wasn't alone, of course, Manson and the "family" of dead-end kids manipulated by his twisted logic and exploited to commit heinous murders at his bidding, terrified … Continue reading Fear of Charlie then, now and forever
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
Book in review: Anthony Bourdain’s ‘Kitchen Confidential’
Written in 2000 and updated several years later, Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly" is well worth revisiting from time to time. It's hilarious, wild and informative. He just may be, as I note in this review written in 2009, the Hunter S. Thompson of food. That's a compliment, by the way. … Continue reading Book in review: Anthony Bourdain’s ‘Kitchen Confidential’
Madison's Avenue 