What, exactly, are we remembering when we “Remember the Alamo.” I used to know the answer to that seemingly simple question. We remembered a heroic stand by a vastly outnumbered group of men, all of them white, who fought for freedom against Mexican oppressors. The men who died in that fight were a “Hall of […]
What do we remember when we “remember the Alamo”? Read More »
The third wave of the great 1918-1919 influenza pandemic peaked early in March of 1919. Although the third wave wasn’t as deadly as the apocalyptic second wave in mid 1918, it was much deadlier than the first wave, and hit particularly hard in several major cities, including Los Angeles, New York, Memphis, Nashville, San Francisco
Talk About Pyhrric Victories: Influenza and World War I Read More »
If, as I’ve done many times, you walk up the wide paved path from the Park Street MBTA station to the Massachusetts State House, you will pass a great work of art: “The Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth Regiment,” a bronze relief sculpture by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. And if you are like
Did You See Saint-Gaudens’ Masterpiece? Read More »
In 1949, my father received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Cooper Union. Seventy years later, we found his lab reports and tests in the boxes of papers, photos, and ephemera that we had put in storage in 2013. To be clear: this meant that my parents had taken those papers with them on
Cooper Union Meant So Much to My Father Read More »
As we approach the one-year anniversary of the COVID lockdown, I’ve been recalling moments and events from last February and early March, a time knew about COVID but didn’t yet know just how much it was going to upend my life, the lives of everyone I know, and the lives of everyone else. Tonight, I’ve
Jose de San Martin’s Advice for Post-Pandemic Life Read More »
I remember seeing a headline about a break-in at a place called Watergate and wondering what that was about. It was June 1972; I was 15 years old; and I had taken a job selling newspapers room to room in Overlook Hospital in Summit. I was probably looking at the New York Times, which was
Does Donald Trump Measure Up to Andrew Johnson? Read More »
Like many people in the “before time,” I had my share of difficult airplane trips. I waited for hours in Reagan National Airport one June Friday when summer thunderstorms delayed all the flights to Boston. I once spent the better part of frustrating snowy winter day at Logan Airport trying, unsuccessfully, to get to a
Jack Knight’s Epic Airmail Flight Read More »
Although I’m 63 and not yet eligible for the COVID vaccine, I’ve been watching as people I know have started getting the vaccine. The roll-out, of course, hasn’t been handled well and even if it were, the demand is much greater than the current supply. So, like many others, I am waiting and hoping, not
Lessons About COVID From Mary Lasker and the Crusade Against Cancer Read More »
John Glenn, the first American (and third person) to orbit the earth, wasn’t my favorite astronaut in the mid 1960s. That honor belonged to the lesser known Wally Schirra, who was the fifth American and ninth person to orbit the earth. And that’s why the gerbil I accidentally killed was named Wally, not John. Glenn
John Glenn Was Most Famous But I Liked Wally Schirra Read More »
In the 1970s, when people travelled and airlines served something resembling real food, my mother decided that the silverware used by Braniff Airlines looked almost exactly like her silverware at home. So when she had a choice, she flew Braniff (which stopped flying in 1982). And when she “deplaned,” Braniff silverware from her meal and
Braniff’s Silverware and the Airline Fiasco of 1934 Read More »