Kavanaugh

Like Trump, Kavanaugh represents the worst in America. The erasure of personal responsibility for the “ruling class,” the enshrinement of rich white male privilege, the vaulting, careening vanity. The only […]

Robocop: Commentary

Watched Robocop (1987) again after a long spell. Now it’s just a sad, sad film and sharp satire. I don’t react to the action the way I did when I […]

John Fogerty

Wrote a poem about John Fogerty. I seem to be on the way to a series on music. I put my heart and soul into it. I saw John Fogerty […]

John Dos Passos Reports at Nuremberg

Research for my speech has sharpened my appreciation for my grandfather’s prestigious reporting career. For example, Dos Passos’ observations of the Nuremberg trials in fall 1945. “Except for Hess, who […]

John Dos Passos and Democracy

“War is a time of Caesars,” wrote John Dos Passos in The Grand Design (1949). As I study biographical material for my Lisbon speech, I’m noticing material I can use […]

Carl Sandburg and John Dos Passos

It has long fascinated me that Carl Sandburg was one of the writers who nominated John Dos Passos for election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1947. […]

H.G. Wells and John Dos Passos

Interesting discovery for me. In fall 1941, John Dos Passos met fellow writer H.G. Wells in London at the PEN Club congress. Dos Passos then visited with Wells as his […]

Edward Scissorhands Essay

Still wrangling this essay on Danny Elfman’s classic score to Edward Scissorhands to the finish line. Hard to settle into the music writing groove after being in the sports writing […]

The Lawton Chiles Campaign Method

Rummaging through old files and came across an article in the Lakeland Ledger from 1975 describing a Lawton Chiles campaign kickoff at Bartow Civic Center. Featured at the kick off […]