This is an account of my bout with pneumonia and staph, which, so far as we know, was not related to the Covid pandemic. When I came down with the flu in February, I followed my usual procedure and went to bed and had a lot of fever dreams. Usually I sleep for a few […]

I’m re-re-reading Ernie Pyle’s two books ‘This is Your Wat” and “Brave Men, Brave Men.’ I’m not given to hyperbole, but I would like to say, on this third reading, that Ernie Pyle, in his quiet, unpretentious way, is one of the greatest writers in the history of the English language. The value of his […]

My New Year’s resolutions are the same every year. I have two. The first is never to be annoyed at the bad manners of others. I know, I know; it’s impossible to keep. But it gives me the right attitude. If I find myself getting annoyed, I work on not being annoyed. The chances of […]

I’ve been going through the notebooks of my late friend Bob Hay, and in this second batch of notebooks I’ve found some excellent long poems of interest to me and possibly other friends of Bob, but not much to present to the general public without a lot of editing, But I did find two poems […]

“Once to every man and nation,” goes the poem by James Russell Lowell, “comes the moment to decide, in the strife of Truth with Falsehood for the good or evil side.” The poem was set to music as a hymn and I sang it as a chorister at St. Paul’s Church in Dedham and later […]

There’s a funny scene in Gran Torino, one of the best movies I’ve ever seen, where Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) and John Carroll Lynch (Martin the barber) try to teach Thao Vang Lor (Bee Vang) how to talk like a man. They use a lot of racial and ethnic slurs and references to sodomy. I […]

I was saddened to learn of the death of Mike Kittredge because I had hoped he would recover from his stroke and apply his immeasurable talents to making the world a better place, which he surely would have done if he’d been given the chance. I’m a pretty cynical guy, but I have to say, […]

I can’t resist sharing this poem by my friend Bob Hay. the late Bob Hay. He bequeathed me a whole box of notebooks filled with poetry and sketches, and I’ve only read the first one. This poem is called ‘Oratory (for one actor) in four parts’ and it comes with stage directions: At the beginning, […]