There’s an expression in politics — I think it was Marshal Cobleigh who told me about it — where you “walk around the corner and meet yourself.” He and I were working for the president of the New Hampshire Senate …

I’ve just finished a book called Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson and found it positively riveting. I don’t often say this, but I think every American should read this book, especially those concerned with the criminal justice system.

As a …

Every morning when I fill my bird feeder, I put a row of sunflower seeds on the porch rail and stand there for a while to see who is the bravest birdie. Who do you think wins every time?…

I’ve been learning a lot from reading ‘Patriotic Gore: Studies in the Literature of the American Civil War’ by Edmund Wilson. All about Harriet Beecher Stowe and the ghostly apparitions that her husband Calvin saw throughout his life. About the …

In my role as literary executor of the late Bob Hay, I’ve been going through a bank box of notebooks.  I’ve been thinking of publishing a selection of his poetry, especially the short pieces, with some of his sketches as …

Whenever I hear someone calling someone else a ‘thug,” I think of the line in ‘The Princess Bride’ when Inigo Montoya says to Fizzini:

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it …

I make the same two resolutions every year, even though I know I cannot keep them. The thing is to try.

The first is never to be annoyed by the bad manners of others. It’s okay to deplore bad …

When a family puts all their unwanted stuff out on racks and tables in the driveway, besides the bargains you might find on pillowcases and winter coats, you also get a glimpse into their lives — the Nordic Trak that …