“A Sense of Wonder” is the third biography of Van Morrison I’ve read, and the best of the three. All of them pretty much describe a self-absorbed loner with little respect for his fans, but this one focuses much more on his song writing and its sources. In appreciating his music, I’m more interested in Read More …
Category: Blog
These are random thoughts about topics that interest me — including books, rock and roll, philosophy, culture and daily life. I update it whenever the mood strikes me, shooting for at least once a week but often more frequently than that. I welcome your comments on anything I may discuss here and, when appropriate, will reply as promptly as possible.
Flakes of Oil
(From my novel Within the Bosom) Oil in flakes, dripping; clattering against the floor, making little rattling sounds like the toenails of mice on hardwood or dried leaves bouncing off a glass pane in the wind. Joy as salt, stinging; tumbling into old wounds, burning away afterthoughts like a matchstick just doused on bare skin or Read More …
Review of The Gangster by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott
I see a historical suspense book like this as a sort of palate cleanser between more substantial courses of reading, and in that role The Gangster serves very nicely. It’s historically accurate to the extent it needs to be, the plot moves along briskly, the characters are believable if somewhat one-dimensional and it builds suspense nicely Read More …
On this, the Trump watchers have gone too far
Read at Daily Herald website I am a strong believer in free speech, and I am not easily offended by words or ideas, especially from nationally syndicated pundits. But I spiked a syndicated column this week that I thought was an insult to, of all people, Donald Trump. It’s not that the tone was rude. Read More …
Review of Lawrence in Arabia by Scott Anderson
The full title of Anderson’s history is Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly, and the Making of the Modern Middle East and it is a thoroughly accurate description. For, this book is about precisely each of the topics mentioned, and it weaves them together in such a thoughtful way that it is impossible not to contemplate their impact on and relevance Read More …
Local news is all about community involvement
Read at Daily Herald website The quote that is probably best known when referring to the Daily Herald’s mission is Hosea Paddock’s objective to “Fear God, tell the truth and make money” that tops our Opinion Page. But his son Stuart R. Paddock Sr. offered an addendum that may strike even more at the soul Read More …
Making sure news rhetoric is not ‘out of whack’
Read at Daily Herald website I was casting about vainly for a powerful and appropriate lead to a column about perspective and police-community relations, when what should fall out of cyberspace but, from rock-and-roll reactionary Ted Nugent, the perfect object lesson. Interviewed by a rival publication, Nugent was asked his opinion about the subject, and Read More …
Designing a news front-page as events unfold
When editors were mapping out last Friday’s print editions in our Thursday afternoon news meeting, we faced an option regarding the issue of police shootings. Wire news budgets included a selection of second-day follows about the circumstances and victim in the case involving Philando Castile in suburban St. Paul, Minnesota, plus a more analytical look Read More …
Information is power; newspapers must use it responsibly
Read at Daily Herald website Following the terrorist attacks on the Brussels airport in March, news organizations, including the Daily Herald, faced an achingly familiar quandary. What pictures should we publish that vividly depict the horror of the crime without offending readers’ sensitivities or sensationalizing the act? The dilemma had an added dimension in the Read More …
Review of “Becoming Madison” by Michael Signer
The author doesn’t say so in so many words, and I’m not astute enough to know whether it was his intent or not, but it’s next to impossible not to read Becoming Madison / The Extraordinary Origins of the Least Likely Founding Father as a reflection on the conflict between government and the equivalent of the modern-day Tea Read More …