Columns

When Gov. Gina Raimondo heads to Washington in the next few weeks – or less – to become President Biden’s Commerce Secretary, she’ll leave a state struggling to find adequate vaccine supplies to bring COVID-19 under control, the state’s economy ravaged by the virus, and a state budget with a projected deficit of hundreds of […]

“Dear Santa: I’m Jewish, but I really love U. Can U give me a present though. (Please don’t give me coal).” This letter to Santa, which often pops up in anthologies of communication with the jolly old gent, transports me to a long-ago time when as a Jewish kid myself, I also had a question […]

This Thanksgiving it might seem difficult to find those things for which we are thankful. We are amid a raging pandemic that is keeping families apart during this holiday. Our country is divided, struggling to find our footing after a bitter election, a growing racial divide, and more Americans struggling to even put food on […]

Tomorrow will be Thanksgiving and it might seem difficult this year to find those things for which we are thankful. We are amid a raging pandemic that is keeping families apart during this holiday. Our country is divided, struggling to find our footing after a bitter election, a growing racial divide, and more Americans struggling […]

I absolutely love this time of year. I prefer sweaters over shorts.  I prefer falling leaves over sweat falling from my body.  What I also love about this time of year is that it is officially soup season!!  Now is when we make the soups to warm our bodies and our souls.  This lentil soup […]

The recent death of New York Yankees hall-of-fame pitcher Whitey Ford provides me personal recollection of how, as children, we choose our role models and heroes. Ford won 236 games, more than any other Yankee, and was a mainstay on legendary teams including the likes of Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Yogi Berra. He shined […]

As I drive around my corner of Aquidneck Island, I’ve noticed something missing: political signs supporting the presidential candidates. So far, I’ve seen just two places where there are Biden signs – one of which doesn’t count, since it’s sprouting from the hedge of my home in Newport’s “Fifth Ward” neighborhood. And I have yet […]

Oh I’m so glad to see you.  Take a look at this. This right here is the risotto. Now let’s talk about the risotto.  Can we please talk about the risotto? Please, Newport, I’m dying to talk about the risotto with you all day, ok.   I feel like the word risotto stresses people out.  It’s […]

Well, hello there Newport. My name is Jay. I’m a lifelong eater.  I am also a (mostly) self-taught cook. In this monthly column, I’m hoping to show that no matter the size of the kitchen, you can cook seriously delicious food.  I have a tiny kitchen, hence the name of the column.  One thing you […]

In these disturbing times it’s comforting to know that one has friends who can be relied on to come through when the chips are down.   In my case, I know I can depend on a stable of folks who have my best interests high on their minds. My special gratitude goes to the likes of […]

The other morning, in step with some cosmic metronome setting the rhythm of the seasons, baby turtles the size of silver dollars wriggled free of the earth outside our front door. Their mother, a crocodilian snapper whose travels I have mentioned before, had presented herself during the first week of June. As she does every year, […]

I had just turned 3 when World War II ended on Aug. 14, 1945, a hugely important moment in human history that was often referred to during and after the war as “V-J Day,” shorthand for “Victory over Japan Day.” So I can’t tell you first-hand about the how the news was received. Not only […]

Since my title on our hobby farm in Rhode Island’s Apple Valley is executive vice president/manure management, I know a thing or two about the production and distribution of raw material. The work, honest and unpretentious, is far more pleasant than you might imagine; in fact, I see a magical aspect to it.   Each […]

There are a lot of terrible things happening in the country and the world these days, and this is not one of them. Nobody died, went hungry, was denied medical care, lost their job, got evicted, was mowed down by a drunk driver, copped a pardon or was treated rudely at the supermarket checkout. Frankly, […]

It’s at this time of year that Emma Lazarus, whose New Yorker parents maintained a summer home in Newport, gets a lot of publicity for her Statue of Liberty poem and its image of “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” But she wasn’t the first in her family to write immortal patriotic words, although the […]

If ever there was a time to rip the words “Providence Plantations” from Rhode Island’s official name, this would seem to be it. With the nation newly energized to confront not only police killings, but the widespread oppression of Blacks, it makes sense to remove this obscenity from the state’s public title. Still, I’m going […]