Having dinner at my favorite local restaurant recently, I’m scanning the menu when a server recognizes me as a fellow Boston fan. She approaches the table and shouts, “Go Patriots!” She then remembers what I do and quickly adds, “I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT … Read More
January 2015
I Don’t Want to Hear About It!
One Survivor’s Story
Reading about the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp from World War II, reminded me of my own experience in visiting Dachau, the first of those camps.
I was part of a small group of high school students visiting countries … Read More
My Joe Franklin Story
Since the death of New York radio personality and TV talk show host, Joe Franklin last Saturday in Manhattan at 88 years of age, everyone’s been telling their own Joe Franklin story. This is mine.
It’s 1996, I’m on a book tour for my first … Read More
They’re Thugs not Muslims
According to the Pew Research Center (Aug. 24, 2010), “The public continues to express conflicted views of Islam. Favorable opinions of Islam have declined since 2005, but there has been virtually no change over the past year in the proportion of Americans saying that Islam … Read More
Remembering Three
Last week, the Associated Press reported (Jan. 11), that two members of the famed 100th Fighter Squadron also known as the Tuskegee Airmen, died on the same day. Lifelong friends, Joseph Shambrey and Clarence Huntley (pictured), enlisted in 1942 and were shipped overseas to Italy … Read More
Dartmouth: In Need of a Cultural Change
Dartmouth has a history as a top Ivy League college. Long esteemed for its schools of medicine, engineering, business as well as liberal arts, Dartmouth has now gained another distinction.
The Boston Globe reported (Jan. 8), that “Up to 64 Dartmouth College students — including … Read More
Once More into the Breach of Free Speech
“Je Suis Charlie,” (I am Charlie) has become a symbol not only of free speech, but freedom itself. Looking like a scene from the Broadway musical Les Miserables, more than a million, including leaders from around the world, marched in the streets of Paris … Read More
Charlie Hebdo: A Closer Look at Satire
Since the terrorist attack against the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo (Jan. 7), in which 12 individuals were murdered, there’s been no shortage of opinion writers denouncing the assault as an attack on freedom of expression. But can satire go too far? Dictionary.com defines … Read More
Memo to Terrorists:
On September 11, 2001, you shook American when you took 2,996 lives, but we survived, rebuilt and became stronger. On April 15, 2013, you murdered five individuals and injured 280, but rallies were held proclaiming “Boston Strong,” and the yearly event continues.
In the short … Read More
Confession and Forgiveness
This remarkable story of a confession coming decades later is surpassed only by the extraordinary power of forgiveness. As reported on the CBS Evening News (Jan. 5), it’s a reminder to us all about the power of redemption.
“Nearly four weeks ago, Ricky Jackson was … Read More