Columns

From the You Can’t Make This Stuff Up But It Makes Your Skin Crawl Department.  A friend in Texas, with newly diagnosed breast cancer, had to be scheduled for bilateral mastectomies. All quite traumatic and scary. As part of the process, she needed a preparatory procedure. She’s a doctor – she knows the “system” (so-called) […]

The late Dr. Frank Jobe, who never threw a pitch in the major leagues, has nonetheless been honored with displays and events at the Baseball Hall of Fame.  But Doctor Jobe is not a Hall inductee and has no bronze plaque hanging there. Neither does his most famous patient, the late Dodgers and Yankees pitcher […]

It’s no secret that substance abuse and addictive behavior come in many forms and has had a deleterious effect on many individuals and families since well before the days when opium was first known to be extracted by the Sumerians in 3400 B.C. These Mesopotamian people called the poppy plant Hul Gil, which translated to […]

They’re gone now, but they provided our culture with enduring gifts. Folk singer Burl Ives left us his version of a bouncy holiday song, “A Holly Jolly Christmas.” Sultry Lena Horne left us her classic recordings of “Stormy Weather.” Banjo-playing Pete Seeger left a catalogue of music, much of it anti-war, as in “Where Have […]

August is nearly upon us, so the best advice is to lock your doors, lower the shades, and pretend nobody’s home. Because you know that at this point in the gardening season a neighbor is sure to stop by with a bulging bagful of home-grown squash. When this happens, at least give credit to the […]