There’s a local paper rolled up in a rubber band One more sad story’s one more than I can stand Just once how I’d like to see the headline say “Not much to print today, can’t find nothin’ bad to say”, because Nobody robbed a liquor store on the lower part of town Nobody […]
The Great Depression, a Scarred Generation–and the Coronavirus
Those of a certain age – specifically my age – have had parents who entered young adulthood during the Great Depression, for them perhaps an even more life defining event than the Second World War. I fear that today’s millennials–many of them already saddled with student loan debt–may be in for a similarly traumatic period that […]
Alone Together
Hello, world! Are you aging in place? “Is this what it was like during the air raids?” my 25-year old son asked me, knowing full well that we were fortunately spared from bombing attacks during the war (which to my generation could mean only World War II). Though we did hang blackout blankets over the […]
Coronavirus and the Common Good
Lacking competent or timely national leadership, Americans are stepping up in almost unprecedented ways to combat the deadly coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. My inbox, undoubtedly yours too, is flooded with announcements of cancellations. The spring sports season, cancelled. Broadway shows, shuttered. School systems in a dozen states, at last count, closed. Conferences, libraries, museums, […]
About Chris Matthews
There is no denying it. Chris Matthews was a loudmouth. Except for his surprise subdued farewell opener on his final “Hardball” Monday night, when he seemed also contrite, sad and sorry to go. Much has been said and written about him before and since, including by me back in 2011, when I interviewed him for […]
“Five for Freedom” garners high praise from Journal of Military History
Eighteen months after its publication, FIVE FOR FREEDOM: The African American Soldiers in John Brown’s Army continues to garner praise. The latest comes from “The Journal of Military History,” a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal and the official journal of the Society for Military History. “I cannot recommend this book enough,” writes reviewer Barbara Gannon in the January […]
FIVE FOR FREEDOM: THE NEW PODCAST
Eighteen months after publication of FIVE FOR FREEDOM: The African American Soldiers in John Brown’s Army, the book tour continues! In late September, I was interviewed by Sonja Williams, an award-winning writer and producer of documentaries and professor of communications at Howard University, for a podcast on the Biographers International Organization website. The hour-long interview, […]
Hail to the Nationals–and to Hometown Ted!
Pity the poor New York Yankees and their fans. A sportswriter for the New York Post lamented that due to the Yankee’s dramatic sixth-game, ninth-inning loss to the Houston Astros the team, which has spent $1 billion on its player payroll, would not get the chance to win its 28th World Series. Well, boohoo. Sorry, […]
A Time of Reckoning
I believe we are in a time of reckoning, both with our past and present. It’s long overdue. With much attention focused on 1619 — an anniversary to be marked but not celebrated – there seems to be a new focus on the foundational arrival of the first enslaved Africans on our shores. With the […]
Another World’s Fair: Just What America Needs–or Does It?
Could a World’s Fair put a smiley face on America? For much of our history, world’s fairs have done just that. During times of triumph – and especially of trial – these garish events have papered over our imperfections and even in the darkest of times have offered a sunny picture of the present and […]