We have lost one more World War II veteran. Richard L. Walker, born May 7, 1924, passed away on October 26, 2020. Son of William Walker, M.D., one of the first black physicians in Colorado Springs, Richard walked the body-strewn Normandy beach with his battalion on a forced march to Cherbourg shortly after D Day, […]
D-Day, 1944: A Black Veteran Remembers Read More »
The revival of an ancient religion has taken Mongolia by storm. Decades of oppression and religious conversions could not stop Mongolia’s first religion, Shamanism, from surviving. The hundreds of years of Chinese influence over Mongolia before the turn of the 20th century brought in heavy pressure for the region to convert to Buddhism. A majority of
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I think I was 13, poking my eyes along the titles of books lined up on a long folding table at some church basement rummage sale, when a title called out to me – Life in a Putty Knife Factory, by someone named H. Allen Smith. In those days, I often selected books simply because
Life in a Putty Knife Factory: H. Allen Smith Read More »
The first time Benny Goodman heard Bix Beiderbecke play cornet, he recalled, he wondered, “My God, what planet, what galaxy, did this guy come from?” (Skretvedt). Listening to him throughout my life, I’ve had the same feeling. So did hundreds of musicians who heard Bix during his short lifetime, and so have thousands of listeners
Like a Girl Saying Yes: The Sound of Bix Read More »
Paul Westerberg of The Replacements famously wrote, “Growin’ old in a bar, ya grow old in a bar” in his 1985 song “Left Of The Dial.” I spent fourteen years of my life proving him right in an effort to become a successful musician. When I first started playing out in clubs, MTV had just
Rock N’ Roll Ghosts Read More »
Franklin Macon, who passed away at his home on November 22, 2020 at the age of 97, was one of only two remaining original Tuskegee airmen. After lengthy stays at care centers following an illness, he was happy to finally go home to his own house in the neighborhood that he had grown up in
Don’t Give Up: The Legacy of Franklin Macon Read More »