If you don’t mind the personal indulgence, I’d like to reflect on something wonderful that happened to me, many of my high school classmates and the people of my Massachusetts hometown 50 years ago this month. It was a high school production of the great musical, “Fiddler On The Roof,” something that by now has … Continue reading ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ and an April of discovery
Reaching out and back, across time
Jocelyn Saiki, age 2 I wrote a column for The Sunday Sun about Jocelyn Saiki’s quest to find the man who saved her life in 1972, when she was just a toddler. A man she never knew. A man who would be 70 years old now, if still alive. Saiki wants to thank him for … Continue reading Reaching out and back, across time
Baltimore, You Have No Idea: New play slated for December
Baltimore Sun columnist Dan Rodricks tells stories from the hard streets and sweet spots of Baltimore, with six supporting players and a guy on a piano. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll sigh. “Baltimore, You Have No Idea,” directed by Will Schwarz with music by Mat Lane, will hit the stage at the BMA Meyerhoff Auditorium, … Continue reading Baltimore, You Have No Idea: New play slated for December
The Ukrainians of Baltimore
St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church, Baltimore My column in The Sun today results from a dive into some old documents, including stories in the newspaper archives, about people who came from what we once called "The Ukraine" when it was part of imperial Russia and, later, the Soviet Union. The more I speak with Ukrainian-Americans … Continue reading The Ukrainians of Baltimore
Brain Gain: Can you list six things you learned in the last month?
Can you list six facts you learned — or came to appreciate in a more profound way — in the last month? Give it a try. It’s a pretty good exercise for the mind and probably a good way to retain things you've picked up from reading or watching the news. I list six such … Continue reading Brain Gain: Can you list six things you learned in the last month?
Competent leadership can stop Putin. That’s not something you wish for. It’s something you vote for.
“Please don’t wish,” I heard a woman say. That was her retort to some wishful thinking about life, her answer to hearing someone express hope that things could be different. I look at Putin today and his barbaric attacks on Ukraine, and I wish we could just wish him away. When you feel powerless to … Continue reading Competent leadership can stop Putin. That’s not something you wish for. It’s something you vote for.
Putin’s war crime is the war itself.
In Act 4 of Shakespeare’s “Henry V,” the young king cries out, “I was not angry since I came to France until this instant.” The instant is his discovery, immediately following the battle at Agincourt, of the French army’s massacre behind the lines of the English camp boys. “Kill the poys and the luggage!” says … Continue reading Putin’s war crime is the war itself.
The Raoul Middleman studio becomes a museum
The Raoul Middleman Studio Museum will open for its inaugural exhibition, Raoul Middleman: Life in the Studio, on Sunday, April 3 from 11 am until 4 pm. It will be a memorial tribute on what would have been the prolific artist’s 87th birthday. Middleman died last fall at his home in Baltimore.After a decade establishing … Continue reading The Raoul Middleman studio becomes a museum
Don’t like Putin? Don’t support Trump and Republicans.
In coming elections, Americans will have a choice, as always, when it comes to the kind of government we want: An open, liberal, representative democracy or some version of the old monarchy the Founders rejected, and that would be, in the modern world, an autocratic form of government, if not a dictatorship. It would be … Continue reading Don’t like Putin? Don’t support Trump and Republicans.
Apology and Response: The Sun’s editorial on its racist legacy, and a thoughtful reaction to it
Here, for all to read, is a link to The Baltimore Sun's deeply researched editorial on the newspaper's history of racism, going back to its founding nearly two centuries ago. (Here is a link to a note from our publisher and editor-in-chief, Trif Alatzas.) I hope you take time to read it all, either online … Continue reading Apology and Response: The Sun’s editorial on its racist legacy, and a thoughtful reaction to it
Dan Rodricks 