Category: nonfiction

Ned Beatty Interview

In May 2001 I interviewed Ned Beatty - "Visiting Film-Pimp" at the 28th Athens (OH) International Film Festival. Ned passed away a few days ago. This interview, originally published in the Athens News, was read by many hundreds of or perhaps a few thousand people. Buried on one of my crusty, dusty websites for decades, … Continue reading Ned Beatty Interview →

Kids COVID Coin Curriculum?

Or: How I learned about EVERYTHING from a coin. Who likes to collect money? I do! But I’m talking about weird money. If you travel abroad, it’s not strange to see different sorts of money, but 35+ years ago when I first stumbled across a coin bearing non-Latin characters, it seemed a magical treasure. A … Continue reading Kids COVID Coin Curriculum? →

Me Writing About Me Writing About Me Writing

Or: I used to write a weekly column. Big piece about coins and COVID in the works, kids, but it's been stuck at the 88% done mark for a few weeks. Maybe this'll help to break the blog content logjam? (It did!) Well, I actually have drafts of several mundane blog posts gathering digital dust, … Continue reading Me Writing About Me Writing About Me Writing →

WWII, Australia, Paintings, Families, Rocks

I found this story under a rock a while ago. (figuratively speaking) ...Which is fitting, because it's a tale of things hidden under a rock. (figuratively speaking) It starts on a farm My Granddaddy John grew up on a farm in Virginia.  It was a big farm.  It is possible that his family owned slaves … Continue reading WWII, Australia, Paintings, Families, Rocks →

#DumpDrumpf

Here's the thing. The Drumpf movement is just making fun of somebody's name that changed when they immigrated to the United States. I have many friends with "weird" names, or whose Americanized/Anglicized names aren't the names their ancestors had a few generations ago. Should we make fun of their names? Are they worth less because … Continue reading #DumpDrumpf →

Inadvertent Lessons from Safety Town

Under a Blanket of Sleep My earliest memories fluttered archetypal dreamscapes of unknowable shapes and otherworldly sounds. I remember not understanding the recurring dream, confusion which no doubt rooted the subtle cerement of fear shrouding this fascinating fancy. That I lacked adequate language to describe it frustrated me more than my inability to understand it. No, … Continue reading Inadvertent Lessons from Safety Town →