Nisha Gupta: In Search of Beauty
“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson On a hike between the mountains … Continue reading
DOUBLE RUN
I never order trout in a restaurant. Though I was tricked once by neat rows of trout on ice at my local fish market. Never again. Their taste, at best, … Continue reading
SOLDIERS DON’T FIGHT FOR A CAUSE?
Wars without purpose. Patriotism without sacrifice. I hate cliches about war. I am a Vietnam veteran. I always get this uncomfortable feeling when someone says, “Thank you for serving your … Continue reading
RUINED LANDSCAPES
“we are poor little lambs who have lost our way, baa, baa, baa…” — Rudyard Kipling. More sheep than people. I say this as a joke, intending to provoke a smile. … Continue reading
Clifford Thompson: A Brief Take on Slavery and the Holocaust
The tendency to mistreat one another, occasionally on a horrifyingly large scale, appears to run deep in the human makeup. Our technological progress routinely laps its moral counterpart, if, in … Continue reading
A SILENCED MOURNING
In the past several decades, there has been an increased public “outing” of the persecution of gays and lesbians during the Nazi regime. Holocaust museums around the world have erected … Continue reading
A LETTER FROM MEL PACKER
Ed. note: after I said to the Pittsburgh environmental activist Mel Packer that I was learning a great deal from his powerful writing and speaking, he responded: A nice compliment, … Continue reading
THE COMMON CORE AND BILLY KWAN
Our vice-principal called the English Department into her office. “Congratulations. You made A. Y. P.!” Translation: my department passed the Common Core Test, the newest of a decade long series … Continue reading
