For the disaffected Bernie supporters who say Hillary Clinton stole the nomination, I say “I cannot disagree.” For those who say, it doesn’t matter which party wins the presidential election, I say, “You are tragically misinformed.” For one thing, there’s the Supreme Court. For another, there is international funding for […]

I read a poem in the Frontier High School (Deerfield, Massachusetts) Red Hawk Report which I think should be read by every educator in America, especially by “special” educators. The poem is titled “Ignorance is Bliss,” by Will Bliss, and it was published in volume II issue 4. In this […]

I have always had difficulty understanding the great books written by my grandmother’s cousin Edmund “Bunny” Wilson, but I have come to appreciate the great contribution this great man of letters has made to the field of literary criticism. In Axel’s Castle, for example, I learned all kinds of things […]

Years ago I gave a friend a copy of one of Tony Hillerman’s books. When I visited him six months later I noticed he had a whole shelf loaded with Hillerman mysteries. They’re like peanuts: people just keep consuming them. Most of Hillerman’s mysteries recount the adventures of Lieutenant Joe […]

I had a fabulous time at the Casa de Tio Vincenzo in Huntington Beach, California. Everything was exactement comme il faut. I especially loved the rich cherry flooring: And the extraordinary artwork: And of course, one of the most important things for Americans these days is keeping ourselves safe from […]

  On my trip to California, I had the opportunity to congratulate Atsuko Walker, who was sworn  in as a US citizen along with 3,500 other applicants at the Los Angeles Convention Center. President Obama was on hand to congratulate Atsuko We went to lunch in Little Tokyo and saw […]

A beach where dogs can run around without a leash? That’s the greatest idea IN the world. I’m really surprised that a human could think of it.     xxx

Visiting the famous Casa de Tio Vincenzo in Huntington Beach, California, where  the flowers bloom all year long.        

I’m reading a fascinating book by Arthur Koestler called The Case of the Midwife Toad about an Austrian scientist named Paul Kammerer, who committed suicide after being accused of falsifying experimental results. Kammerer believed in the theory advanced by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, who advance a theory of evolution a generation before […]

The paperback I carry in my pocket when I’m called to substitute teach is The Letters of Pliny the Younger. I figure if I leave it lying around it might give me a scholarly air. Pliny and his uncle (Pliny the Elder) were both Roman senators in the first century. […]