Watching a reporter interview historian Timothy Snyder one evening, I sat up in my chair when he laid out his thoughts about Donald Trump’s strategy for the current 2024 Presidential election. Snyder presumed the former president knew he would lose the contest and was taking unp
A writer near my age admitted on Facebook that though she loved the feel of paper between her fingers and the smell of a new book, she’d shifted to an e-reader. No longer comfortable with small print, she needed an electronic device to adjust for size. Much in life is a tradeof
Sitting down to lunch with my broker, his conversation turned to an old worry. “The national debt keeps growing. Congress has to reign it in.” “What’s your solution?” I asked before taking a sip of coffee. “Should children of low-income families go without lunch? Shoul
Surrounded by books in a well-trafficked bookstore, I sat down to coffee with a former student. We’ve been meeting this way for many years. By now, he is in his early 70s while I am staring down at 87. Happily, we are both in robust health, and I always look forward to our con
Checking the headlines, my eyes fell upon an article about President Joe Biden’s delight in ghostbuster burgers. Ghostbusters are toxic towers of meat, cheese, red onion, pickles, and sauce. While some wonder if Biden is too old for a second presidential term, a better question
(I’m taking a lap victory by repeating my blog of November 2020, after Joe Biden’s defeat of Donald Trump.) *** The 2020 election makes clear that neither political party will be setting the course for the country. Gr
The ferry bobbed in the six-foot waves like a match stick caught in a wash cycle. While the storm outside raged, inside, passengers huddled in the middle rows of the vessel’s viewing area, away from wind gusts that could break the glass. Together, the people, white-lipped
To read the news is to wonder if the world has gone mad. Autocracy is on the rise, while democracies seem to be stumbling. To be honest, some democracies no longer look like democracies. India and Turkey come to mind. Russia holds elections, but no one would describe Vladimir Putin
A former NATO commander has advised the United States that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a signal that our country should gear up for war. Naturally, someone my age who lived through World War II is likely to greet this statement with horror. Worse, the means of fighting a war h
Joe Biden and Diane Feinstein are being attacked in the media because they are old. Critics question their fitness to hold office. As both are in the last decades of their lives, no doubt they’ve slowed down. If they were attempting to run a triathlon, that might matter.