By the time I was old enough to notice such things, I discovered that both my mother’s parents were toothless. Not a molar or bicuspid in their heads. This revelation involved the remarkable discovery of two sets of dentures, each one submerged in its own glass of slightly opaque liquid and placed strategically on separate […]

During the fall of 1975, America was in need of a major “lift-us-up.” Richard Nixon had resigned 13 months earlier and Saigon had fallen that spring. People were angry, frustrated, and the country was split right down the middle, but luckily our history came to save us. It was our bicentennial year. With my U.S. […]

As the nation observed the 235th anniversary of the completion of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, what do we celebrate? Yes, we are challenged by distrust, partisanship, bigotry, racism, insurrection, questions of justice, and so many issues that are fanned to divide us, all emphasized by the efforts of those seeking to benefit. So, […]

I’ve been trying out the new Icon Diet, which is tailored to your personal taste and preferences. But first, I have to explain what an icon is. In Greek, the word icon means an illustration or picture, but in English it either means a religious painting, or the picture not of a particular person, place […]

In July, many of you learned from me here or elsewhere about my recent health challenge. I am happy to report that the surgery to remove a benign meningioma (tumor of the lining of the brain) was successful. I’m feeling good, with a bit of rest and recovery to go, and a positive and healthy […]

Many are the reasons why people go to college. For some, it’s the gateway to a life-long career, for others it’s a path to a job and money and power or an escape from mom and dad or that nasty kid down the street, while for others it’s a four-year holding pattern with beer, pizza, […]

Sitting at a bar eating pizza with my wife and chatting with a friend from an earlier time in my life, I learned that I was a likely candidate for a feature obituary when I die. The friend, who I hadn’t run into in years, oversaw the obituary department at the state’s largest newspaper, and […]

When they asked me what was the best and the worst I had ever seen during my many years and many miles, I didn’t have to think for long on either one. In 1954-55 I spent nine months as an exchange student at the University of Leiden, Holland, the Netherlands. I rented a room on […]

The problem was getting to work from my house, near Evergreen Landing on the northwest corner of Peaks Island, all the half mile or so along Island Avenue past Trefethen and the yacht club, with its flotilla of a half dozen tiny turnabout sailboats, past the one-room school and the windowless, brick telephone exchange building […]