In a Lifetime that Lasted 104 Years, She Spent 80 in Seclusion
Imagine living to the ripe old age of 104….and spending eight decades of that long life in virtual seclusion. I read a column called Remembrances tonight in the WSJ about Huguette Clark, a society girl who made her debut at age 20, and then married at 22. Yet despite being […]
Ed Helms: From the Daily Show to Movie Star, Singing All the Way
Of all the lovable and charming characters on The Office, Andy Bernard is to me the funniest of all. Is this because of my growing up in Ivy League Princeton, NJ, where there were families like Mr Bernard’s who brag about their Cornell roots yet are absolutely terrible at their […]
Millard, We Hardly Knew Ye
When I saw the eponymous title of a new book by a less-than-admired president, I knew I wanted to read more. Millard Filmore is a new book by Paul Finkelman that explains the background of how a barely-known comptroller of New York became President of the United States. His fortune […]
Riding the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail in the Berkshires
Today was a nearly perfect Sunday. I discovered another bike trail, this one between Lanesborough and Adams, and enjoyed time with a good friend riding through wooded trails, beside lakes and streams, enjoying the breeze, the ducks, and interesting conversation. Everyone riding on the trail seemed happy, as if this […]
Yes, We Call Waiters ‘Sir’ Here–It’s Part of our Unlost Greatness
What’s the difference between the French and the Americans? Peggy Noonan writes in today’s WSJ that a striking contrast can be seen when comparing how the two countries reacted the the arrest last week of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was once considered to be the next president of France. Now he’s […]
Circumcision Ban to be on the Ballot in San Francisco
Last night I read in the WSJ that a ban on circumcision is being placed on the ballot in San Francisco in November. And that a similar ban was proposed in Massachusetts last year. How come I never heard about that? The San Francisco initiative would ban the circumcision of […]
The Earliest Whalers Were Forced to Sea by their Debts
When the first English and Dutch settlers came to Cape Cod, it turns out that they were failures at fishing. In Paul Schneider’s history of the Cape and Islands, “The Enduring Shore,” he writes that the ‘master salt maker’ on the Mayflower turned out to not know how to make […]
Have You Heard About the Postal Service Bailout?
There are some stories that you just don’t read about in very many places. I read tonight on the WSJ’s editorial page about an upcoming bail-out for the US Postal Service, which has just about reached the end of a $15 billion line of credit extended to it by the […]