Of Baldness and Fathers
My baldness is not meant to signify anything, but it does not mean nothing, even to me.
By John Griswold
Dreiser in St. Louis
Theodore Dreiser, courtesy of National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution (CC0) One of the literary figures whose association with St. Louis has been mostly forgotten is Theodore Dreiser, author of the novels Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy. Dreiser lived and worked in St. Louis for 16 formative months, from November…
The Great Volunteer Corps Preserving Our Family Histories
Work done by Eileen Mayberry, at the ‘Find A Grave’ site. The website Find A Grave was started in 1995 by a man named Jim Tipton, as an amateur tribute site for celebrity graves. It became a commercial site in 1998 and began posting photos, submitted by…
Impeachment Shifts to Defense
Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) in a screenshot of C-SPAN coverage of the impeachment trial. The prosecution rested today, in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, five to six hours ahead of schedule. The Senate is adjourned until noon Eastern, Friday, when Trump’s lawyers will mount a defense, on…
Emotions at the Impeachment
Lawyer Bruce Castor in a screenshot from ABC News coverage of the trial. The genuine emotion on the first day of the impeachment trial, today, came from US Representative Jamie Raskin, of Maryland’s 8th District, who is the lead manager for the second impeachment of Donald Trump. Raskin’s opening…
Eat Your Spinach
Photo by John Griswold When I was a kid, in the Midwest, spinach was obviously good for you because it came hygienically frozen in blocks straight from the factory and was bitter as sin in the pot. Who would ever have eaten that boiled mush if it did not…
The Dig and Drama
Screenshot from a trailer for ‘The Dig.’ The problems for writers of historical fiction may be little different from those of anyone using “true events” as the basis of their stories. Sources may be more distant, but the real issue remains: which drama, among the welter of…
An Echo Through a Train of Rooms: Father and Son at the End of an Era
My sons are everything to me, and I appreciate any remaining chances to share in their understandings. Like many things in American life now, this also is a tug between the conservative (preserving their safety, and our money, time, and effort) and the liberal (being open to new views and experiences).
No Time for Caution, They Say
Screen capture from NBC’s coverage of the Inauguration. Inaugural Day was bright and cold, with 200,000 small flags replacing an audience on the Mall, and the capital an occupation zone. The number of deaths from Covid passed 400,000, more than our WWII dead, as the sitting President winged…
Adult Education in the Pandemic
Screen shot of photographer Greg Williams at work. There are online classes or sessions of all kinds these days, such as The Great Courses (“Learn at your own pace with no schedule, while exercising, commuting, or just relaxing. Just you and the world’s greatest professors!”); TED…
The Ad Hoc Tribes of Violence
Image capture of video on social media, showing a concerted group climbing the Capitol stairs. As law enforcement and amateur Internet sleuths continue to identify those who stormed Congress on Wednesday, some are poring over video of a “disciplined” group in tactical gear, who walk single-file, hand on…
Why Did the Morons Cross the Threshold?
Photo by Jose M. via Unsplash Because they could. And because there was precedent. No, not the British, who burned the US Capitol Building along with most of official Washington, DC, in 1814. This comparison is pertinent mostly only because yesterday’s event was “the first time a malicious group…