Sometimes a thin stamp contains layers of meaning. Today’s #stampoftheday, a 3-cent stamp issued on December 9. 1948 that pictures Joel Chandler Harris, is one of those stamps. Before I started writing this post, I didn’t know who Harris was. But it turns out I am indirectly familiar with his work because Harris, who was […]
What Should We Make of Uncle Remus? Read More »
I’m a longtime member of the intramural softball team fielded by Tufts University’s Art History Department. But, as anyone who knows me can attest, I do not have a strong sense of design. This is salient because today’s #stampoftheday was the first US stamp to feature an abstract piece of art. A 5-cent stamp honoring
The Power of Design Read More »
In December 1941, a few days after the United States declared war, Winston Churchill secretly boarded a British battleship, which made a dangerous 10-day journey to the United States. The journey was so secret that Eleanor Roosevelt later wrote that while President Franklin Roosevelt told her “that we would be having some guests visit us,”
Winston Churchill and the Power of Hope Read More »
“Have you gotten to the part where Beth dies?” my wife innocently asked her younger sister, who, many years ago, was eagerly reading “Little Women.” Her sister, of course, hadn’t and the knowledge of what was coming detracted (to say the least) from her experience of the book. To be clear, my wife didn’t do
Harry Potter Meets the Little Women Read More »
In 1969, my father took me to Shea Stadium to see the third (and final) playoff game between my beloved New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves. At some point in the game, the Braves, who were losing, brought in Cecil Upshaw, a forgettable relief pitcher with an unforgettable name. Although Upshaw didn’t give up
Cecil Upshaw, Wendall Downdraft and Washington Irving Read More »
“Never let the truth get in the way of a good story ,” is a saying falsely attributed to Mark Twain that I’ve often jokingly quoted in my work as a reporter and editor. The advice Twain didn’t offer came to mind as I considered what to write about today’s #stampoftheday, a 1-cent stamp issued
Robert Livington Is Not the Namesake of Livington, New Jersey Read More »
“Roshi’s Laundromat Blues,” the last short story I wrote in the spring of 1980, had a simple premise. What if you were at a laundromat, waiting for your clothes to finish the wash cycle, when you heard that John F. Kennedy had been shot and was dead? The idea was at this emotional moment, Roshi,
Roshi Was At the Laundromat When Kennedy Was Shot Read More »
Sometime in the mid-1960s, my mother and I drove over the then-new Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which opened on November 21, 1964. As we crossed over “the Narrows,” which separate Brooklyn from Staten Island, I vaguely recall my mother telling me that the crossing was the world’s longest suspension bridge, which impressed me. And as we descended
My Mother Drove Me Over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge Read More »
Every once in a while, the #stampoftheday marks something odd. Today is one of those days, as the #stampoftheday is a 3-cent stamp, issued on November 20, 1948, that commemorated the 100th anniversary of the American Turners Society. Until I saw the stamp, I had never heard of the American Turners Society. And unlike some
The Byrds Were Not American Turners Read More »
“Everyone,” Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously s said, “is entitled to his own opinion.” “But, he added, “they are not entitled to their own facts.” Moynihan’s words are particularly appropriate in the current fraught moment when, in my opinion, the current President of the United States and his supporters refuse to acknowledge basic facts about the
Higher Education, Opinions, and Facts Read More »