At my first job after college, in the early 1980s, I used a typewriter. I worked at a fledgling non-profit magazine, so we didn’t have the Cadillac of typewriters—the IBM Selectric. Instead, we had salvaged, second hand stuff. A few years later, working at the University of Illinois Office of Publications, I got an IBM […]

I had the day off last Monday, so I played hooky on the blog, too. Besides wanting a break, I really didn’t know how to do right by Dr. King, and so, my day of silence. We had a terrific MLK weekend. We took the Metra commuter line to Glen Ellyn Saturday afternoon. Last time […]

Boy, last Monday sure feels like a long time ago. What a week. Having finally gotten my blood pressure down, I’m not going there. Instead, let’s talk about the happy subject of dogs. And the complex subject of race. Bear with me, there is an intersection here. Start with dogs. Back in December WBEZ aired […]

I don’t know much about football, but I do know this: the Chicago Bears are playing the New Orleans Saints later today. I’m kind of a Saints fan. My appreciation for that team started during a 2007 vacation. Mike and I happened to have been in New Orleans 14 years ago on the weekend the […]

Every December the publisher of my book Writing Out Loud asks me to write a year-end holiday message to send out to people who subscribe to my newsletter. But this past holiday, I had writer’s block. Who wanted to think hard about 2020? What would I write about? Conference presentations that got cancelled? Visits to […]