The note on Tommie “Snorts” Sullivan’s Christmas card, saying that Sister Mary Serene had recently passed to her reward, surprised me only in that she decided to call it quits after 101 years. She could have lived forever, if so inclined — she was magic. Most of my early memories have blurred centers and chipped […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Losing proposition
With the proposal to introduce keno now shelved, the governor and the General Assembly must devise an alternative revenue source if they are to fund the governor’s capital-development plan. However, let’s not for a moment think that we’ve heard the last of expanding the state’s lottery operations. Trust that when the inevitable budget shortfalls reappear […]
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Good poet! Bad poet!
Before the Internet, before the search engines, Tullius Menard was a person of substantial worth, for he’d memorized most all the facts. When he was young, Tullius decided to earn his way in life by knowing all the data — a considerable task indeed. So he wasted no time with reasoning or understanding or appreciating […]
Posted inOpinion
Take back the country
America is becoming a two-class society. Not since the age of the robber barons has the distribution of wealth and power been so polarized in America, and never in our history have average citizens been less important in the political progress. The class war that began with the Reagan revolution in 1980 has been brought […]
Posted inOpinion
Power (“Sorry, Sorry Night”) politics
They held no power They did not know how Perhaps they’ll hold some now Born in the late 1930s and early ’40s, wedged in between the Greatest Generation and the baby boomers, they are few — and Ike Eisenhower lied to ’em. Ike went on TV in 1960 and […]
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The examined life
Last week I drove to the Avon Theater in Decatur to see Capote. I shouldn’t have to do that, but here we are, a few years into the 21st century, and the local theaters still avoid running films with gay content. Most of the films that the folks at Kerasotes run are Hollywood blockbusters such […]
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E-mails from the perimeter of good taste
I write stories? Stuff? Sometimes kind folks read the stories and e-mail me. The e-mail is almost always of this nature: “I enjoyed your story. Interesting. Different. Made me laugh [or think, or smile] — but I’m not quite sure what it’s about. What does it mean?” My almost-always reply is: “Thank you. Glad you […]
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For peace on earth
If you’re old enough, news that President George W. Bush authorized the National Security Agency, apparently without legal authority, to monitor the private communications of American citizens must seem awfully familiar. This sort of monitoring has been pursued before, when technology was less sophisticated and less intrusive, becoming especially notorious during the administrations of Lyndon […]
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Her name was Lisa
Whenever you start a new job in a new town, someone gives you a stack of letters, e-mails, and press releases that no one else was interested in and calls them story ideas. Check these, you’re told — there’s got to be something here to get you started. Usually there isn’t much. In this stack, […]
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The longest dream
Summer 1959. I’ll refine my first-baseman skills here at the semipro level, forget college, and go straight to the major leagues. The old, grizzled, arthritic pitcher throws some chin music. I jump cat-quick out of the way, trip, and fall on my back, arms and legs kickin’ like an upside-down dung beetle. The ball breaks […]
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Comb-overs and sensible shoes
There’s a small celebrity associated with writing words that find public display; for instance, a few folks have asked me for writing advice. Of course, what they mean but are too kind to say is, “I have a wicker chair that can write better than you. I’m 50 times the writer you are, and I […]
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Taking the most clandestine route
Secrecy was the first order of the Brotherhood, so brothers Harold and Herbert called it Not The Brotherhood. Hob Fadwaddle, the only other “known” member, called it Not Only The Brotherhood. The organization’s purpose was just as secret — or perhaps just as confused. At one time it was vehemently anti-government/pro-conspiracy; now, after 9/11, it […]
