August 1, 2022 A class reunion can be a good time for long-overdue apologies The prom stories came out last weekend for my 50-year class reunion. Mine bordered on the pathetic. Through a fluke in the voting process,…
July 23, 2022 If you look hard enough, you can always find a nastier job than yours One of my earliest memories is of picking strawberries in a rocky patch east of our barn on Old Cleveland Road. Later in the…
July 4, 2022 Given the opportunity, she got game too The first time I watched a girls basketball game, I tried to keep my yap shut. It was sometime after Thanksgiving in 1976 in…
June 20, 2022 So was an old schoolmate my version of a hero — or just somebody else’s sucker Every now and then, I think about Al Sondej. He was a constant presence during my first two years at Notre Dame. Tall, blonde…
June 7, 2022 Rides are short but chats rewarding at ND reunion I could feel the bones slide as they moved to new places in my hand. I don’t know if I winced. I do know…
May 31, 2022 Spit or no spit, we’re still sorting out what happened to our Vietnam servicemen I was looking for something completely different today when I ran across a disturbing story about the death of Robert W. Jaronik. Robert was…
May 16, 2022 Flat bicycle tire brings me into world of Air Hose King I had four tickets I didn’t want for a baseball game, and the right thing to do was to trade them in for another…
April 27, 2022 enFocus: New college graduates given the opportunity to make our community better Why don’t things work? Nice question. But a better question is, how can we make them work better? Since 2012, enFocus and their fellowship…
April 22, 2022 Saving the farm from invading German troops Years ago, I could kill a half-dozen Germans a day and barely bat an eye. I would have killed a lot more, but I…
April 12, 2022 Now I’m catching on to why he never left the park There was no reason for me to write down the guy’s name, but I wish I had. Three of us – Mike, Al and…
March 22, 2022 Tiny town heroes? Might take a second look A few months ago, we were driving west of Indianapolis when I saw a road sign pointing to Cloverdale. My heart skipped a beat….
March 10, 2022 This newspaper put the choke-hold on itself These days, when people lament the decline of the daily newspaper, the consensus is that it was the internet’s fault. The picture we get…
February 7, 2022 True story, but would you believe it — or ever see it A few years ago, I met a woman who wanted to learn how to write. She had moved to town, took a clerical job…
January 12, 2022 So, is this how you want your baseball card to look? I’ve had time to catch up on my baseball card collection, and that’s how I got reacquainted with John Ellis. Like most baseball fans,…
January 6, 2022 Take one from the team When I was 8 years old, my family lived on a farm in German Township, and we didn’t get into South Bend very often….
December 23, 2021 Two music teachers helped me find my voice Russ Cuthbert was back in town last weekend with big news. He had found Tom Scanlin. Mystery solved. It’s not clear to me how,…
December 17, 2021 Praising the dead can take its toll I spend an unhealthy amount of time looking at obituaries. It’s been an every-day retirement morning ritual for me. Pick up the paper, check…
December 5, 2021 Gannett doesn’t care what happens in your neighborhood A few years back, I picked up a book titled “The Chain Gang: One Newspaper Versus the Gannett Empire,” by Richard McCord. I was…
November 22, 2021 “Accept and move on” doesn’t have the same effect it once had One of my favorite stories is an old one, told by a friend of mine 20 years ago. His editor had had a terrible…
November 3, 2021 My father, a WW II veteran, wasn’t a whiner I’ve been in a mood to write about my father lately. He died about 20 years ago. His memorial service was on the day…
