Fighting cynicism in an election year
An off-year presidential election is just around the corner, and can’t you feel the excitement? Neither can I. But it’s obligatory that voters be encouraged to vote, to do their civic duty, and that...
View ArticleIf I don’t mind, does it matter?
“Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it don’t matter,” said baseball great Satchel Paige. Paige, who was born in 1906 and lived until 1982, was one of the sport’s all-time great...
View ArticleFrom one generation to another
Even while I placed the item in the cardboard box and wrapped it in duct tape, I second-guessed myself. Did I really want to part with my dad’s World War II mortar shell? It wasn’t that I didn’t want...
View ArticleThose crazy dreams, and what they can become
Ray Charles once said, “Dreams, if they’re any good, are always a little bit crazy.” Dreamer that I am, it wasn’t long after I began writing short stories that the dreams kicked in. I imagined that I...
View ArticleChristmas without the tinsel
Sandy and I were sitting in our family room last Friday night with our middle daughter Kari. Mike and Kari’s two boys, Jake and Nixon, played nearby with the tub of toys they’d dumped into the middle...
View ArticleBowl me over, baby
This week’s Pigskin Pick-em will be the last one of the season, and it looks as though we will have a new champion. Sports columnist Les Knutson owns a 105-65 pick-em record. Yours truly, who won the...
View ArticleThere are many ways to keep warm in winter
Some of us can never understand why so many young people put on summery clothes during the cold of winter. Former Daily Globe editor Ray Crippen broached the topic earlier this month in his delightful...
View ArticleNot yet famous, but enjoying the adventure
WORTHINGTON — Time for an update: My book is now officially released (since Jan. 13, in fact) and I am not yet famous. When it happens, I’ll let you know. Actually, I’m very pleased. The book signing...
View ArticleFarm genes spring to life, sort of
What I know about farming I can write on a kernel of corn. But I’m reading a book called “A Good Day’s Work: An Iowa Farm in the Great Depression” and a little bit of knowledge is beginning to sink in....
View ArticleCar trunk cleanup time
One of these days, and maybe soon, I’m going to clean out all that stuff from the trunk of my car. It’s going to happen because it has no business taking up space in there. None whatsoever. Not any...
View ArticleThe impossible dream — in 2015?
Public television is in the midst of a pledge drive, and in order to increase donations they’re replaying old classic television clips. I found myself wondering how many living souls who’ve come across...
View ArticleThe offers keep rolling in
I must say, it was quite a surprise to hear that Clint Eastwood wants to make a movie out of my book, “The Genuine One.” I never expected Hollywood to come calling, but you just never know these days,...
View ArticleWhat the Indiana law really meant
When entering into a debate, it is beneficial to begin with the proposition that you are entitled to your own opinions but you are not entitled to your own facts. In 2015, however, this proposition has...
View ArticleCelebrate new records? It all depends
Records are made to be broken, so out of graciousness we are told to happily congratulate all who break them. Barry Bonds obviously believes in this mantra, and so he has gone public to tell us we...
View ArticleAngry birds
It started as a gentle rapping, rapping, rapping at my window. I ignored it at first, thinking that perhaps a neighbor was beginning a roofing job next door. But the pounding continued, a rhythmic...
View ArticleNew book, new book signing June 19 at the Daily Globe
The marvelous thing about fiction writing, I think, is the idea that you can escape from the real world and create your own. I find myself increasingly ill at ease with the real life that I see on...
View ArticleKeeping up with the little ballplayers
This is the time of year when grandfathers agonize over the fact that they sometimes have to miss their grandchildren’s summer activities. Grandpas need to see their grandkids play. My 4-year-old...
View ArticleA class reunion, 41 years later
I’d decided against attending Sunday’s class reunion at Sibley High School until my best high school chum, Mark Hawkins, showed up at the Daily Globe last week and talked me into it. He didn’t really...
View ArticleThe need to be offended
I must be hopelessly insensitive, as clueless as I am undeservingly comfortable to be a privileged member of American society. I need to look at things in a new way — the way Supreme Court justices...
View ArticleRoger Maris still a fascinating case study
The authors of a book I’ve just finished on Roger Maris, former MLB home run king and favorite son of Fargo, N.D., argue that his statistics don’t adequately measure his greatness. Tom Clavin and Danny...
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