Ben Franklin’s Sister Jane Became His Favorite Correspondent
We were sitting outside at Esselon Cafe as a gentle rain began to come down as our Easter brunch concluded. I had time to flick open the NY Times and read part of a column by Jill Lepore that detailed Benjamin Franklin’s most important relationship…with his sister Jane Mecom. Born […]
Canada: Don’t Make the Same Mistakes We Made About Drug Laws!
With the leftover hail still visible in the yard, today is a day for hunkering down and enjoying a peaceful day. I found some interesting reading about US conservatives many of whom have begun to realize how foolish our government’s ‘war on drugs’ has ended up being. Asa Hutchinson, who […]
At the Seder, Rituals Familiar to All Except Me
On Monday night I celebrated passover with my partner and 11 other jews and gentiles. I wasn’t sure that I was up for it, never being a big fan of religion in any form, yet after it was concluded and the fancy china was all put away, I was happy […]
Sea Shepard’s Triumph: Japan Gives Up Whaling
Several years ago, my friend adventure writer Peter Heller wrote a book about chasing down Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean. He spent time on the Sea Shepard’s vessel and ended up writing a book about it. I thought a lot about what those Japanese fishermen must have felt as […]
Charlie Hunter and a Front Row Table: Sweet Saturday Night of Music
Last night’s musical entertainment was a first-rate duo, to go along with our first-rate seats, right next to the stage at the Iron Horse. Charlie Hunter was there with drummer Eric Kalb, and between the two they filled the hall with a huge band’s worth of energy, rhythm and excitement. […]
In Search of Ramps Somewhere in Franklin County
It was a blustery day but sunny. It was a good day to go for a walk. As we strolled through one of the projects on the Jail-side of Greenfield, we headed downhill to a bike trail that lead to the Green River Recreation area by the Green River. Wild […]
Pulled Over in Turners Falls, Cory the Cop Tries for DWI # 102
“Take your hands out of your pockets! Stand back up there, on the curb sir!” It was a nightmare scene but one in which thankfully, I wasn’t going to regret for years and years. I felt last night great empathy for black men in America, all of whom would be […]
Two Women Travel to China in 1986 to Find It’s Not About Them
I’ve been enjoying a book that some might call “chick trip lit. ” What I like about Susan Jane Gilman’s Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven is how cleverly she describes her traveling companion, Claire, when they are facing duress in 1986 communist China. The pair have known each […]