Burn leaves, Ban leaf blowers
Those of a certain age may recall the not unpleasant scent of leaves burning in the fall. This was the traditional way of disposing of the season’s regular deposits of…
Read MoreWhat’s in a book? An interview with Eugene L. Meyer, author of “Hidden Maryland”
“The journalist’s new collection shines a light on “hidden Maryland.” Holly Smith, Editor-in-Chief of the Washington Independent Review of Books, interviewed me on the publication of my newest book Hidden…
Read More“Hidden Maryland: In Search of America in Miniature”
Excited to announce the publication of my new book Hidden Maryland: In Search of America in Miniature. For eight years, from 2005 to 2013, when it folded, I wrote columns…
Read MoreLocal Journalism, Claudia Levy, and “Five for Freedom”
Why Local Journalism Matters Back in September 1991, I wrote a story about an EPA plan to incinerate 120,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil in rural St. Mary’s County, Maryland.…
Read MoreClaudia Levy Memorial, Hidden Maryland, Five for Freedom
Claudia Levy – a Celebration of a Life Well Lived that Ended Much too Soon: A memorial celebration of the life of Claudia Levy, our dear friend and former colleague…
Read MoreTough Times, the Fourth of July, and a story “too good to check”
These are tough times, no doubt about it. Extreme weather related to climate change. Worst inflation since 1981. Russia’s genocidal war against Ukraine. The unraveling revelations surrounding the Jan. 6…
Read MoreRecalling Watergate and “Woodstein” after 50 years
June 17, 1972 was not Dec. 7, 1941, nor was it Sept. 11, 2001, or Jan. 6, 2021. But it remains a date that will live in infamy, and in…
Read MoreAmerican Exceptionalism, The Betrayal, Newby Marker, The Last Hurrah, Hidden Maryland
Like many of you, I’m still reeling from the latest gun carnage that took the lives of 19 young children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas. An 18-year old with…
Read MoreBack to the Gaithersburg Book Festival — and Climate Change on the Bay
At the iconic Gaithersburg Book Festival on May 21, in person after two pandemic years on Zoom only, I will be interviewing author Ira Shapiro about his new book The Betrayal:…
Read MoreNo, the doctor is not in.
No, the doctor is not in The pandemic is not over. Like a nuclear explosion raining fallout long after the blast, the worst health crisis in a century continues to…
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