For about two decades, maybe longer, we’ve ended our Passover Seder by singing “Amazing Grace.” It’s always late and we’re full – of food, spirit, love, and hope, and other good things. Obviously not a traditional Jewish song, its message of hope and redemption resonates in way that makes it the perfect ending for the […]
How Can I Keep from Singing? Read More »
In 1975, like many in the cast, I grew a beard for our high school’s production of “Fiddler on the Roof.” (I played the rabbi.) Except a few brief interludes in the late 70s, I’ve had a beard ever since. Beards change the way people look, and, presumably how they are perceived. That’s dramatically illustrated
Abraham Lincoln’s Beard and Whiskers Read More »
In May 1977 about 2,000 protestors, some of them people I knew, occupied the site of an under-construction nuclear power plant in Seabrook, New Hampshire. Six months later, when the United Nations issued two stamps honoring the 20th anniversary of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the New York Times dryly noted, “…the United Nations is
The Promise of Nuclear Energy Read More »
I’m interested in things that are big, complicated, expensive, important, and, for most people, most of the time, really boring, until and unless they don’t work well or fail entirely. Today’s #stampoftheday offering – 3 and 8 cent stamps issued by the United Nations Postal Administration on February 8, 1955 – speak to that interest
Big, Important and Boring: Celebrating the International Civil Aviation Organization Read More »
I’m sure that there many of the people who defended the Capital were former Boy Scouts. I’m also sure that many of those attacked the building also were former Boy Scouts. I have zero evidence or proof of this. But – having been a Boy Scout and having worked for two summers at Camp Glen
Sady, Boy Scouts Were On Both Sides When the Capital Was Assaulted Read More »
I live close to Concord, Massachusetts which means that whenever I’m feeling too adequate, I can recalibrate by taking a modest bike ride past the homes of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. And if I’m still feeling too good about myself, I can go a bit father to a pond where
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Enduring Legacy Read More »
Every once in a while, I find myself reflecting on what I wrote in a #stampoftheday post and wondering if I went down the wrong path or, at least, missed an interesting opportunity. Yesterday’, when I wrote about a stamp issued in 1967 to honor the 25th anniversary of Voice of America (VOA), was one
Georg Olden Was a Voice of America Read More »
“The Kansas Overprint,” sounds like it could be the title of a “a sweeping, impassioned work of activism and resistance that is also a stunning evocation of-and paean to-the world of stamps.” This non-existent book would have been written, of course, by Richard Powers, author of “The Overstory,” which, as Powers website contends, really is
Is the Kansas Overprint the Name of a New Novel? Read More »
I don’t know what you would do, but I want to know more when I see a listing that says: “NEWS OF THE WORLD OF STAMPS; In Honor of the U.N.’s Weather Bureau – – Swedish Railways Worldwide Coverage SWEDISH RAILWAYS CASPARY SALES BEE MAN FIRST-DAY SALE STAMP DAY.” That was one of three listings
The UN’s Weather Bureau Meets Swedish Railways and The Bee Man Read More »
What are the Argonauts doing on a stamp about the California Gold Rush? I’m asking because today’s #stampoftheday, a classic 3-cent stamp, issued on January 24, 1948 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the discovery of gold in California, pictures Sutter’s Mill where, it notes, “James W. Marshall’s Discovery Started Rush of Argonauts.” “Argonauts?” I
There’s Gold in Them Thar Hills Read More »