THE ENDLESS PULL OF HOMETOWN MEMORIES
My friend Gary drove slowly up 10th Street past my old family home until we reached the end of the block. “Look, isn’t that corner house on the... More...
THIS HOMECOMING MEMORY CAME WITH A BIG PRICE TAG
As I sat in the car in front of her house with the motor still running, I noticed my hands were unusually sweaty and my heart felt like it was... More...
CREATING A ‘BUCKET LIST’ FOR COUCH POTATOES
The first three syllables in the name of the Tanzanian mountain—KIL-I-MAN-jar-o—best describe the reason I should perhaps eliminate... More...
ON THE CHRISTMAS SET WITH THE WALTONS
After arriving in California more than three decades ago I had the chance to become reacquainted with a former Texas high school classmate who had become a writer and producer of the hugely popular family drama The Waltons... More...
BRENDA’S LONG JOURNEY HOME
The images are still burned indelibly into my memory almost 20 years later. I’ll never forget our drives north up the Coast Highway toward Malibu at dusk on those chilly summer evenings. She was behind the wheel of her LeBaron convertible with the top down, windows up, heater on, with David Bowie’s China Girl cranked up a few notches—and that beautiful blonde hair of hers blowing wildly in the twilight Pacific breeze.
Brenda was one of the first friends I made when I left Texas many years ago as I made my way to California. We became neighbors, but... More...
WHERE SHALL READERS GO NOW WITHOUT BOOKSTORES
My local bookstore closed its doors in 2011 and I found myself wondering what life will be like in the future without this vital cultural component of our community.
As Village Books in... More...
THE DISTINGUISHED LITERARY ODYSSEY OF JOSH GREENFELD
I suppose that one would have to categorize my old pal and veteran writer, Josh Greenfeld, as a card-carrying, genuine curmudgeon.
He is smart, quick-witted, feisty—and at heart—a staunch non-conformist. Greenfeld once met the iconoclastic Dorothy Parker, and I’ve often imagined the two of them sitting across from one another at the Algonquin Round Table in a colossal battle of wits. Parker might have met her match if that... More...
PALISADES MOM TURNS COUNTRY GIRL: ONE WOMAN’S BOLD ODYSSEY
Earlier this month, a longtime Southern Californian gave up her comfortable lifestyle in the beachside town of Pacific Palisades and moved to the beautiful rolling hills of... More...
A MENTOR FOR ALL SEASONS
The words handwritten in bold red ink above the draft of my first news story simply said: “You’ve buried the lead. Let me know when you find it.”
That was my formal introduction to Baylor journalism professor David McHam in my inaugural course in the department in 1966. After discovering the weathered document in... More...
STEPHEN KING IS STALKING MY EVERY WORD
Writer Stephen King pretty much claimed the horror genre as his very own in recent decades. However, the fright he gave readers in his countless novels was nothing compared to the terror he has inflicted on me in recent days... More...
RESTORING MY FACEBOOK IMAGE ONE FRIEND AT A TIME
I’ve just spent my first full week on Facebook after much chiding from mostly younger friends who convinced me that I might as well go live in a cave somewhere if I wasn’t... More...
FACE IT, YOUR DOCTOR IS AVERAGE, AND THAT’S OKAY
I ran into an old friend the other day who told me that he had just undergone knee replacement surgery by the country’s preeminent orthopedic surgeon. Although I had good reason... More...
LOOKING FOR MEALS IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES
The author and satirist Fran Lebowitz once said that she would eat at home more often, “but there’s no food there.”... More...
WHERE THE STARS GO WHEN FAST LANE SLOWS
Ever wonder where all those famous actors and actresses go who seem to quietly disappear from the public eye after being in the headlines for years? Well, come visit my California neighborhood and you’ll find most of them living right here... More...
CAN WE EVER SEE THIS WORLD THE SAME AGAIN
Saturday morning as I reflected on the dreadful events in Newtown, I suddenly remembered the words of a young local writer after the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy... More...
‘FAST AND FURIOUS’ ABOUT EXAGGERATED CAR COMMERCIALS
Maybe we could blame the late actor Steve McQueen for all those outlandish car commercials we watched during the recent Super Bowl... More...
A SON’S GIFT COMES FULL CIRCLE
Most townsfolk knew him only as Mr. Dodds. He was an older gentleman who walked the streets of our village daily and hardly made eye contact with passersby. He had a solemn face and... More...
WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE ASK ME WHAT I’M READING!
My longtime writer friend Josh Greenfeld said recently he couldn’t remember the last time someone asked him what he was reading... More...
‘BIG FRANK’ AND ‘LITTLE FRANK’:
TWO BEST FRIENDS WHO SHARED A CAREER IN BOOKS
I entered the buying office and realized that he had not yet spotted me, so I stepped just inside the door and watched as he and the bookseller engaged in quiet conversation. As I heard that familiar baritone chuckle of his, I asked myself if it could really have been almost 40 years since we first met... More...
LARRY McMURTRY: A WRITER, A READER, A TEXAN
The list of Texans who have spent their writing lives chronicling their roots is rather long and impressive and includes names like Dobie, Webb , and Graves.
For many years J. Frank Dobie was considered the preeminent voice of Texas and southwestern culture. Walter Prescott Webb was the esteemed historian whose books put the... More...
REMEMBERING MY REAL HERO THIS FATHER’S DAY
As I watched an exciting conclusion of the Houston Astros’ game the other night, I found myself pleasantly imagining watching the game with my dad, like some kind of mystical moment from the movie Field of Dreams... More...
COLUMNIST ON QUEST TO KEEP PUBLIC DEBATE ALIVE
Anyone who has ever spent any time around the former political columnist Tommy Denton knows that he has little patience for today’s ‘sound-bite’ media culture and little tolerance for an uninformed citizenry that... More...
WE DON’T NEED YOUR LIFE STORY
(BUT I HAVE A FEELING YOU’RE GOING TO TELL US ANYWAY)
It was 25 years ago that the late writer Ben Masselink planted tongue firmly in cheek and wrote, “It finally happened: At 7:32 p.m. on July 3rd, nine adults enrolled in a fiction writing workshop in the Midwest which officially revised the balance of writers and readers in this country. We are now faced with the dilemma of having nine... More...
ROBERT GATES: A UNIFYING PUBLIC SERVANT
When Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stepped aside at the end of June and took leave of his cabinet post, the occasion marked a rare unifying political moment for many Americans in this time of unparalleled party polarization.
In the midst of a time of skepticism of each party’s agendas, and distrust in our public officials at an all-time high, Secretary Gates, with... More...
BILL MOYERS IS BACK AND SO IS MY POLITICAL SANITY
Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly is busy cutting off another guest in mid-sentence, while over on MSNBC, the bright, but strident Rachael Maddow is speaking in definitive proclamations about the ulterior motives of her opposition.
Help us please! We need shelter from this constant... More...
THE SURVIVAL OF A TECHNOLOGICAL EXILE
As stories of new technology took over the table talk at a recent dinner party I attended, it occurred to me that I was absorbing only a small portion of the conversation about the latest gadgets that would somehow better our lives.
While I was hoping for some lightweight banter about the Dodgers’ pennant chances or even indulging in speculation on Lindsay Lohan’s next court date, the talk that evening took a nose-dive into subject matter I’d rather have avoided. The discussion centered on the latest new apps for the Ipad, the marketing opportunities of social media, and the pros and cons of Twitter. Since I own a $15 a month cell phone which serves one and only purpose— making phone calls, I was ready to cry ‘uncle’... More...
THE EXPANDING BELT NOTCH THAT SHOOK MY WORLD
This morning as I was attempting to buckle my pants and go on about my day, I found myself once again wrestling with this seemingly simple chore as I inhaled deeply and... More...
I’VE ADAPTED TO LIFE WITH THAT OLD MAN IN THE MIRROR
“For years I wanted to be older, and now I am.” – Margaret Atwood
While working out at my gym a few years ago, I spotted... More...
CELL PHONES ARE TURNING US INTO THE LIVING DEAD
As I took a stroll down the sidewalks of my local village recently, I skillfully dodged an oncoming skateboarder only to realize that a greater imminent danger lay just ahead... More...
CLASS REUNIONS ARE NOT FOR SISSIES
Nametags may not be sufficient for identification purposes as my upcoming 50th high school reunion approaches in the coming year. After glimpsing some photos of fellow classmates at a Facebook site designated... More...
A SOUTHERN VOICE FOR THE AGES
When his literary agent once asked best-selling writer Pat Conroy why there was not more sex included in his novels, he responded quickly, “Because my grandmother is still... More...