Dick Clark, R.I.P.
Sean MurphyThis is the face I remember, and the one I'll recall most fondly. It's nice to see the ones when he (impossibly) looked even younger or the ones where he…
Bright Moments, Revisited (Already)
Less than a month ago I elaborated on some of the ways music moves and inspires me. If you missed it (and it includes a couple of brief, necessary shout-outs…
Mark Twain: The Big Daddy of American Letters (Revisited)
On April 21, 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in Redding, Conn. Patriot: the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what he is…
Cerphe: Living History Lesson
In case you had any questions about whether or not local treasure Cerphe Colwell is a living legend, consider this Exhibit A. And, in case you were curious, there are a lot…
So It Goes: Reflections on Kurt Vonnegut (Five Years Later)
April, 2007. Kurt Vonnegut would say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. Often, he was asked:…
Robert E. Simon, 98 Years Young
Robert E. Simon, the man who named the town I live in (R.E.S.ton, get it?) turns 98 today. Here he is, in 2006, on the balcony outside his penthouse suite…
Intermission
I'm going to be "unavoidably detained" for the next week and change, storming castles, photographing coastlines and drinking as much Guinness as I'm humany capable of doing. So, while…
Better Git It In Your Soul
It takes a village to raise a family; it takes a forest to write a book.
Looking Into The Sun*
(March, 2000) I look down at my mother as she lay dying. It was worse than I expected. (You don’t expect anything; you worry and fear and anticipate and dread…
Five From The Yardbirds To Remember Keith Relf (Revisisted)
Keith Relf. Who? Exactly. Quite possibly the best vocalist you've never heard of, you still have heard him if you are passingly familiar with rock music. Trust me. He was…