The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (author of A Gentleman in Moscow) follows Emmett Watson, an 18-year-old just released from a juvenile work farm for accidentally causing the death of a fellow who had been bullying him. Having survived his mother’s abandonment, he returns to the family farm, where his father has just died, and …
Spring reading – pt. 1, non-fiction
With spring, we're all getting out more. But even with yard cleanup and planting, and longer walks to enjoy, there's still time for the pleasures of reading. Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe is a full accounting of Purdue Pharma and its private owners (the Sackler family), the development of OxyContin and the fueling …
“The Greek Connection” publishes in Athens today
Some of you have read "The Greek Connection: The Life of Elias Demetracopoulos and the Untold Story of Watergate" by James H. Barron. Receiving critical acclaim internationally, my husband's book, the product of ten years of research and writing, was published in the summer of 2020. It was in the midst of the first wave …
Continue reading “The Greek Connection” publishes in Athens today
Will Smith assaulted more than Chris Rock
When was the last time that mainstream media paid this much attention to black-on-black violence? For much of the past week, the Academy Awards historic incident has been the top story in broadcast and print media. The picture is indelible: Oscar-winning Will Smith leaving his seat, marching onstage and slapping comedian emcee Chris Rock hard …
Biden’s nine-word unforced error
"Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?" King Henry II is said to have muttered out loud, grumbling about Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. Henry wasn't ordering anyone to whack the troublesome Becket, but four knights who overheard what they assumed to be the King's wish, rode off to Canterbury and killed …
Passing the Freedom to Vote legislation
The hypocrisy of Senate Republicans is breathtaking. They give standing ovations to Volodymyr Zelenskyy's heroic battle for democracy in Ukraine, they line up to take selfies with Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova in the Capitol, they're moved to tears by videos of courageous citizens fighting for their country, and they fight like hell to diminish democracy …
Biden State-of-the-Union speech a mixed bag
Joe Biden was elected President for many reasons, among them simply that he wasn't Donald Trump. Compared to his predecessor, Biden was a decent, honest, homespun guy with a strong background in foreign relations, a belief in America's global leadership in defense of democratic principles, and a commitment to international alliances among nations with largely …
Continue reading Biden State-of-the-Union speech a mixed bag
Biden on right track versus Putin
First, an apology to Mitt Romney. Prior to the 2012 election, then-Presidential candidate Mitt Romney declared that Russia was our biggest geopolitical threat. During the campaign, Barack Obama blasted him for saying Russia rather than Al Qaeda. Obama mocked Romney for being mired in a Cold War mentality. Many of us chuckled dismissively along with …
Suspending Whoopi is counter-productive
Whoopi Goldberg is in hot water again, this time for insisting on ABC’s The View that the Holocaust was not about race but “about man’s inhumanity to man.” She doubled down the next night on Stephen Colbert, reducing the Holocaust to a conflict between white folks, telling him that, if a Klan member were chasing her and a Jewish …
More books to curl up with in wintertime – pt. 2, fiction
The Promise by Damon Galgut won the 2021 Booker Prize. A family saga set in South Africa, it focuses on the Swart family from 1986 to 2018, mirroring the country’s emergence from apartheid to the uncertain promise of the present. It is first and foremost a family saga, set against the backdrop of historical events. …
Continue reading More books to curl up with in wintertime – pt. 2, fiction
Marjorie Arons-Barron 