Dolly Parton, R.I.P.

Books are an essential part of her enduring legacy. I saw her in person once. It was Tennessee night at National Harbor, just below Washington, and I was working on…

Read More

The Rooftops of New York

Can you top this? In the 1933 film “King Kong,” the giant gorilla climbed to the top of the new Empire State Building, then at 1,250 feet the world’s tallest.…

Read More

The Big Birthday Bust

So I was in downtown DC the other day, emerging from the Gallery Place Metro station. There were half a dozen National Guardsmen standing around looking at their phones and…

Read More