Has this ever happened to you? Someone tells you they write books and you’re not sure how to react. Here’s a tip: Be very afraid. You’ve just met a person of ruthless determination. That person stares down one blank page and vows, “I’m going to fill this vast emptiness with so much compelling and original thought […]

 (606 words) There weren’t many but there were enough of them that I had the sarcastic retort holstered and ready to be drawn. It was 25 years ago and Val was about to deliver our first baby. We were unaware of the sex, but in what is now one of the lamest “Spoiler alerts!” that […]

 Thank you, Latrobe Bulletin readers for selecting me as your Favorite Local Author! Here’s the letter-to-the-editor I wrote acknowledging the honor …                                                           —   Originally Published on https://eightdaystoamish.blogspot.com/

 Remember when tweets used to be limited to 140 characters. Some of these are 140 words. I like being free to write what I feel but we’re missing something. Not much, but something …Enjoy your weekend!• Was looking forward to a rare night at home with just me and soon-to-be graduate when plans abruptly changed. […]

I’m struggling to write the book, “The Art of Living Suddenly: How to Deal with a Parkinson’s Diagnosis (and other things that suck).”The problem is my insistence on writing only books that have happy endings. With PD that’s a challenge. But I think this one strikes a balance between the complex emotions I need to […]

 Hear ye! Hear ye!I somehow missed compiling these the last three months. Very lax on my part ’cause there are some good ones. Thanks for taking the time to check ’em out.• I was regretful the instant I opened my mouth. I’d lit into the  poor bastard. “You’re a terrible bore! You tell the same […]

 It’s been 62 years since JFK historically announced his intention that the US would put a man on the moon before the end of the decade.His inspiration succeeded. And since the first one did so in 1969, we’ve put 11 more of them up there on the lunar surface.I’ll bet you can only name the […]

 (508 words)With an eeriness I doubt I’ll ever shake, I’d been obsessed with the Simon & Garfunkel 1970 classic “Bridge Over Troubled Water” since at least five days before a Baltimore bridge became fatally troubled by what was happening upon waters it was built to bridge. I’ve tried in vain to find a way to cajole […]

  I woke up the other day with a wild hair up my ass that went clear to my brain and now the wild one is about the only hair I have left.I shaved my head and now I’m bald as a baby, albeit a baby with chest hair and pubes.It’s not uncommon for empathic souls […]

 I’d like to grant doctors the power to evaluate patients so that we’d hear more diagnoses like: “Well, the good news is the  operation was a success. You’re going to be fine. The bad news is unless you cut back on the volume and partisan stridency of all your non-stop political talk, everyone’s gonna think […]