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 […]

“Baker shut up. Able isn’t who you think he is,” was the “punchline” of one of the few stories my father would tell about being a soldier in World War II. (Or at least that’s how I remember the story). When he was 19, my father was the radioman in a mobile reconnaissance unit from

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

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

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

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

We never spoke about it, but I suspect that my father had a particular soft spot for Joseph Priestly. As someone trained as a chemist, my father would have known of and respected Priestly who died on February 6, 1804. He’s pictured on today’s #stampoftheday, a 20-cent stamp issued in 1983 and shown here on

“Don’t blame me I’m from Massachusetts,” read bumper stickers on Volkswagen Beetles and Buses and other “sensible” cars after the 1972 election in which Massachusetts was the only state to vote for Senator George McGovern, a thoroughly decent man who was too liberal for a country that preferred President Richard “Tricky Dick” Nixon, an unscrupulous

I’ve been thinking a lot about my father, who died 20 years ago this week. As has been obvious from these #stampoftheday posts, he was, for a time, an avid stamp collector. I think his collection started with Scott’s International Postage Stamp Album, Junior Edition. Published in 1933, the book it is almost three inches

Like many people, I cried more than once today. I cried so much, that I can’t remember everything that caused me to tear up. I cried when I watched the videos of the women who sang “Amazing Grace” and “Hallelujah” at yesterday’s memorial for those who’ve died from COVID. I choked up when I saw