For the mothers and fathers of cyclone victims in Myanmar and those of earthquake victims in China, grief, and the strength needed to endure human suffering, will not be a linear process. It will more likely resemble a spiral staircase on which are recapitulated themes of shock, disbelief, denial, anger, panic, and the hope for eventual inner solace. And women will grieve differently than men …

» Read more of Life in the Wake of Natural Disasters

There are two kinds of people in the world, some wag once observed: those who think there are two kinds of people in the world, and those who don’t. Just about any quality or circumstance will do. Those who smoke cigars, and those who don’t. Those who saw the Rolling Stones in concert before 1969, and those who didn’t. Those who publish bloggy essays on line, and those who will soon.

» Read more of Which Kind Are You? (Declinist or Progressive?)

Two weeks ago Carl, a listener of my radio show, sent me another letter. This one defined who his sons are and defined strength, will, and determination. His son Joey, while continuing his rounds of chemo, had trained and trained and built himself up to the 275-pound weight class. A year after having the opportunity to win a state title taken away by leukemia and subsequent treatment for leukemia, over the weekend of March 8-9, Joey won The Illinois State Wrestling Championship.

» Read more of The Celebration of Life Through Sports Award: The Allegretti Family

For a large number of years I have been thinking about – and by “thinking about” I mean, of course, “putting off” – organizing the family photographs. Since I was a child they have been in an album, but not in the recommended way. Rather than being attached to pages by means of rubber cement or those little triangular things, they have simply been in the album, in bunches, here and there, in no order. I used to drag the album out of the closet from time to time …

» Read more of The Family Photo Album (and Al Gore)

A number of areas in the U.S. are in an extreme drought, a situation that may not change significantly in the near future. Long term, access to water will be an issue for golf courses even if drought conditions alleviate.

There’s also the issue of rising gasoline prices …

» Read more of Drought, Gasoline Prices, and Golf Courses of the Future:
An Interview with Tim Moraghan

There are two things that bring strangers together to form a bond…tragedies and sports. I do not have a story of tragedy to share, just a story of love and sports. Oh, how sports bring us all together. The following Celebration of Life Through Sports Award defines just that …

» Read more of The Celebration of Life Through Sports Award: Mary of South Bend

Word arrives here from Anchorage, Alaska, that a friend who is taking part in the Iditarod dogsled race has met a legendary figure in the publishing field, a man who has had a hand in delightfully perverting the course of social history in America for half a century: Al Feldstein, long-time editor of Mad magazine.

I’m in awe…

» Read more of Mad about Mad Magazine

The motion picture The Day After (not to be confused with the Gorean fantasy The Day After Tomorrow) aired the other day on one of the cable channels and, as usual, I watched most of it. I’m not an especial fan of nuclear warfare fiction, though I do think that A Canticle for Liebowitz is one of the great science-fiction novels and Dr. Strangelove is one of the great movie satires. But I always watch The Day After when I run across it, for three reasons …

» Read more of A Little Cold War Memory: Fear & Nostalgia

Oscar Pistorius has been in the news recently. He’s a world-class track star. His specialty is the 400 meter run. His best time is 46.56 seconds. The World Record is an amazing 43.18 seconds (set in 1999) and is held by Michael Johnson. While Oscar is more than 3 seconds off the record pace, it still gets him into the conversation when talking about the fastest runners in the world, especially since … Oscar is without legs …

» Read more of The Celebration of Life Through Sports Award: Michael Pope

This past June when I walked into the Chicago offices of Encyclopaedia Britannica to begin my stint as an editorial intern, I knew little about the company. I was a wide-eyed college student majoring in magazine journalism (I still am), doubting that a career with a magazine was my life’s calling (I still doubt) and trying to gain some experience in other forms of media and publishing…

» Read more of The Zaha Hadid Plan: Working Backwards (There’s Hope For Me Still)