This fall marks historic first. I have an election sign in my front yard. That's right, I'm visibly supporting something. It was the easiest decision I've ever made. But this is still uncharted territory. Because I worked in newspapers I always felt such preferential expressions were personally wrong. So I never had a sign endorsing … Continue reading Showing signs of support for the education bonds
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A new era of glory for Elon football
Last spring I decided to do something I had never really even considered before: Attend a college spring football game. It was a nice day -- almost summerlike -- so I thought, "why not?" I figured it might be interesting to see the result of spring workouts for the Elon University football team. In all … Continue reading A new era of glory for Elon football
My college years, Brett Kavanaugh, beer, misbehavior and ‘Animal House’
This is about men. This is about Brett Kavanaugh. This is about beer. This is about judgment, or a lack of it. This is about temperament. This is about honesty. This is about privilege and college and the moral compass or gyroscope that keeps polite society functional. This is about different times in our history, … Continue reading My college years, Brett Kavanaugh, beer, misbehavior and ‘Animal House’
On the nose
My glasses didn't break, something of a shock because my nose was very definitely broken, not to mention gouged, gashed and gushing. I looked like Rocky Balboa after about seven rounds with Apollo Creed. And yet, the slim wire-framed glasses remained intact, unbent and unmoved -- as if what occurred directly below it by fractions … Continue reading On the nose
Covering hurricanes has changed but there is still little actual reporting without power
As Sept. 5 careened into Sept. 6 during the North Carolina hurricane summer of 1996, the wind was at locomotive-level decibels outside my father-in-law's home just outside the Swansboro town limits. Tree limbs were snapping like a super-conducting popcorn popper in the back yard. Many limbs skittered across the roof of the house. Rain fell … Continue reading Covering hurricanes has changed but there is still little actual reporting without power
From the archive: Remembering the tragedy and miracle of Bill Gentry
This would have to be among the last columns I produced in my long newspaper career and it tells the sad and oddly inspiring story of one of the best athletes in Alamance County history whose life was altered by cruel fate. I wrote this on the occasion of the death of Bill Gentry in … Continue reading From the archive: Remembering the tragedy and miracle of Bill Gentry
New buildings appear like magic at Elon
About six or so years ago -- back when my spouse, the lovely and talented Roselee Papandrea, first started working at Elon University -- I began to notice something that hadn't occurred to me before. Every building on the Elon campus looks like, or very much like, it has been there for decades. Everything matches, … Continue reading New buildings appear like magic at Elon
Growing up with football and growing concerned about football
This is a column I wrote nearly five years ago -- February 2013 -- about my youth football days -- fun but tough -- and what I believed then and now to be the future for American football. It probably doesn't have one in its current form. A few high school teams in North Carolina … Continue reading Growing up with football and growing concerned about football
The perfect birthday gift in the perfect summer of 1968
First published as a column in the Jacksonville Daily News in August of 1997. He was just about to turn nine. This, in and of itself, was no epic event. There would be bigger birthdays. And there were more important events going on in the world. But in the days before his birthday -- August … Continue reading The perfect birthday gift in the perfect summer of 1968
The life of Don Bolden: Editor emeritus, citizen emeritus
I wrote this news obituary about my one-time boss and longtime friend Don Bolden for the Burlington Times-News in advance of his death. I was asked if I would take on this assignment so the newspaper would have something substantial in hand when the end came. I sent this to city editor Tom Jones in … Continue reading The life of Don Bolden: Editor emeritus, citizen emeritus
Madison's Avenue 