A guy in Connecticut was arrested recently after he had a meltdown over a bad haircut. In spite of my current expanding forehead situation, I can totally relate. As a child of the sixties, hair wars comprised much of my life. Exhibit A was my high school. Every day, the dean of boys walked the […]
Follicular Assault Read More »
One of the books that I drew inspiration from during my teacher preparation days was How 2 Gerbils, 20 Goldfish, 200 Games, 2000 Books, and I Taught Them How to Read by Steven Daniels. His first year of teaching in an inner city school was a disaster. But he learned from it and became a
Classroom Critters Read More »
I was four years old, and we lived on the top floor of a fisherman’s house in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. I could see the ocean from my window, and our landlord often brought us fresh seafood. My father, a USAF radar operator, worked lots of seven day weeks and double shifts because of the Cold
The Persistence of Doors Read More »
“… the pinnacle of hyenic humor, was the hyena, the classic hyena, that hit too far back while running, would circle madly, snapping and tearing at himself, until he pulled his own intestines out, and then stood there, jerking them out and eating them with relish. “‘Fisi,’ M’Cola would say and shake his head in
Dave Barry, Novelist: The M’cola Perspective Read More »
Like Bat Masterson, Robert Parker died at his typewriter, a perfect point of departure for a writer whose every word conveyed the enjoyment felt by a born story-teller, and the pleasure Parker took in the company of his many characters, a pleasure the reader shares. Even if Parker had not been a brilliant, innovative story-teller,
Robert B. Parker’s Spenser: How to Be a Good Man Read More »
During the afternoon of my 21st birthday, I was standing by the garden along one side of our house with my father, Walter McCollum. We were looking at the peony buds as they prepared to bloom into great globes of cream and magenta. The sepals were alive with black ants. “Those *%*)(#! ants!” my father
Mother *%*)(#! Tongue Read More »