D-Day+81 – Why they fought
D-Day – the 6th of June, 1944: “The Longest Day,” as it was called in the classic 1962 film of that name. Then came “The Americanization of Emily” (1964 –…
Read MoreAnniversaries of War and Peace
We seem to be in the midst of marking anniversaries when wars ended, gloriously or ingloriously. Gloriously May 8, 1945, some eighty years ago,, V-E Day was celebrated for Victory…
Read MoreCheer up. It’s Spring!
A walk in my suburban neighborhood as well as a peak at our own azaleas in bloom yields a revelation. Whatever chaos, uncertainty, fear and bad news overwhelms us, there…
Read More“The Winds of Doctrine”
The Sunday Bulletin‘s editorial on Math 6, 1966 was carefully crafted. Headlined “The Winds of Doctrine,” it introduced a ten-part series “The Left and The Right — A View from…
Read MoreJohn Feinstein, R.I.P.
NOTE: My longtime friend and fabled sportswriter John Feinstein died suddenly on March 13 of an apparent heart attack. I wrote this appreciation for the Washington Independent Review of Books.…
Read MoreBecoming Kay Graham
In February 1970, through a combination of persistence and luck, I came to work at the Washington Post. It so happened that my name is the same as the man…
Read MoreWill The Washington Post Die in Darkness?
“All the President’s Men” was on TCM the other night. Sadly, ironically, that title would now have to include Jeff Bezos. His latest turn toward the right, informing staff that…
Read MoreAmidst the Trump/Musk tsunami, it’s still Black History Month!
Remember Black History Month? President Ford formally recognized it in 1976 during the celebration of the United States Bicentennial “to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every…
Read MoreIs Meditation the Answer to Trump 2.0?
These are the times that try men’s souls. — Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, 1776 The other day, Sally Quinn, writing in The Washington Post, where she made her…
Read MoreRecalling Air Florida Flight 90, the last fatal airplane crash in the Potomac
Nothing seemed to work that night. Air Florida Flight 90 bound for Tampa with its ice-laden wings had attempted to take off in a blinding snowstorm from National Airport. Instead…
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