April 21, 2024 Moor or Less: What characters keep you turning the pages? I’m hoping for a little reader participation. Yeah, I’m looking at you. Off the top of my shiny head, I’ve named 10 of my…
April 10, 2024 Moor or Less: Of disappearing suns … the best time of the year … and walk-up songs I didn’t get as crazy as some people did for the eclipse (my daughter and two of my grandkids drove to Indy to watch…
March 25, 2024 Moor or Less: Of awkward conversations, sweet tattoos and ‘Punt, John, punt’ The guy had to wait in the Chick-fil-A parking lot here in Tucson while my wife and I cut in front of his car….
March 15, 2024 More or Less: Thanks, Caitlin, for the show … and for triggering great memories I love watching Iowa’s Caitlin Clark play basketball … almost as much as I like watching Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo and her supporting cast….
March 6, 2024 Moor or Less: No Pepper is not a good sign to me My wife stared at the sign with the same expression that she might wear while watching 7,000-pound hippos dance the twist on their two…
February 27, 2024 Moor or Less: Everyone has a story to tell — even when they’re gone As a longtime writer, I have always held the belief that everyone has a story to tell. And when I read the obituaries these…
February 15, 2024 Moor or Less: Lost and found (finally) in Tucson I am a finder. My wife is a loser. We are made for each other. Before I go on, I should explain that “loser”…
February 4, 2024 Moor or Less: Of 18-wheelers, crazy names and giant saguaros Some observations on our 1,900-mile drive to Tucson, Arizona: On I-70 in the heart of Illinois, it seemed that I was passing (and sometimes…
January 23, 2024 Moor or Less: Entire Sports Illustrated staff is gone, but my SI bulletin board survives (for now) I guess it was my effort at being artistic. In a 9-by-11 bedroom I shared with my brother, I filled up a bulletin board…
January 15, 2024 Moor or Less: An old friend’s olive toss, a yardstick’s use and becoming a fair-weather fan Bob Goodrich, the longtime recreation director for the South Bend Parks Department, died in late November at the age of 94. He was a…
January 6, 2024 Moor or Less: Matt McGraw added color to Muffet’s character Matt McGraw came downstairs wearing three shades of green — green coat, green shirt and green scarf wrapped around his neck. The scarf was…
December 31, 2023 Moor or less: Bye-bye 2023, Chocolate Charlie and childhood heroes As 2024 begins and we move on from our fixation on 12-31-23 (if makes me think of Len Berry’s 1965 song “1,2,3”), here are…
December 28, 2023 Moor or Less: 86-year-old swimmer still paddling after more than 11,000 miles Lou Swartz pushed through Adelaide, Australia, a week or so ago and has her sights set on Perth. She will eventually get there one…
December 19, 2023 Moor or Less: Consider this your Christmas card This is the time of year my wife gives me The Stare. I know what follows. “Have you sent out a Christmas card to…
December 10, 2023 Moor or Less: Readers share favorite song numbers A week or so ago, I wrote a column on songs with numbers in their titles. “96 Tears,” “Love Potion No. 9” and ……
November 29, 2023 Moor or Less: These numbers add up to some of my favorite tunes I love numbers — like batting averages … mile times … populations of small Indiana towns … calories in a cookie (or two or…
November 19, 2023 Moor or Less: 60 years later, so many unanswered questions regarding JFK’s assassination I was sitting in the second seat of the second row in Mrs. Bolton’s ninth grade English class, counting down the minutes until the…
November 9, 2023 Moor or Less: Craig Counsell’s South Bend roots You may know that new Chicago Cub manager Craig Counsell is a Notre Dame graduate, but did you also know that he was born…
November 1, 2023 Moor or Less: A scary night with Mabel, Millie and Minions I manned the front door last night during Halloween as I passed out Skittles, Sweet Tarts and red licorice among other cavity-causing candy. I…
October 24, 2023 Moor or Less: The summer I lost it in France My high school French teacher’s face popped up on my screen the other day as a Facebook friend suggestion. She probably came to the…