Two good questions

At the recent annual gathering of Baltimore law clubs, an attorney asked two good questions I was unable to answer on the spot. After a bit of reflection on some 6,600 columns written for The Baltimore Sun between January 1979 and January 2025, I came up with this:

Is there a column you regret having written?
Back in the 1980’s, I wrote a couple of columns about a Maryland man who had been convicted of murder on what turned out to have been perjured testimony. He spent 14 years in prison before three witnesses, drug addicts each, came forth to admit they had lied at the behest of a county detective. While the columns mostly told the story of this case, in retrospect they probably went too far in agreeing on the man’s innocence. I later came to believe that, while he had been convicted on perjured testimony, he likely committed the murder.

Is there a column you wish you had written?
Yes. Several years ago, I passed up an opportunity to have lunch with the great Julia Child while she was in Baltimore — I can’t remember why — and, therefore, missed what I’m sure would have been a delicious column.

More commentary and stories at Substack and Baltimore Fishbowl