Urban Hillbilly Elegy
I grew up in a small town in the Appalachian mountains surrounded by close friends and family with strong political opinions rooted in religion. I pulled up stakes years ago but many of my loved ones are still back home and still hold dear to the very conservative political opinions of the religious right. Over […]
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Time For Change
The young boy, looking small but sharp in his suit, recounted how police officers stopped his mother for a supposed traffic violation, berated her, traumatized her and then sent her on her way. With painful earnestness he asked the panel, “Why? Why would they treat my mom that way? She didn’t even do anything wrong.” […]
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Chicago’s Next Dance
It was appointment television for five straight Sundays, that brilliant ESPN documentary “The Last Dance” that chronicled Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls on their epic journey to six championships in the 1990s. Even folks who are not sports fans found something to cheer about during this stay-at-home season we are all enduring. It was […]
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Names and Numbers
With tragic and swift inevitability, we have reached that number. This week, after less than 3 months, the United States will have lost more than 58,000 to the pandemic called COVID-19. That is the same number of American lives lost during the entire Vietnam War. This sad milestone will be observed in the media as […]
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What’s Not in My Mailbox
Yesterday was Thursday, April 2 and because so many things have changed it is tempting to push aside what seems not so important. Like what’s not arriving in my mailbox. Every Thursday our local newspaper, The Glenview Lantern, would arrive. It was filled with stories big and small about our town, just like the many […]
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