One Christmas Eve in the early 1990s, while driving along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Baltimore, I looked up at the old high-rise public housing projects that were to be torn down a few years later. I had done some reporting on the poverty and crime in those buildings, and had met a single … Continue reading Three memories of Christmas Eve
Dusting off memories
“Nostalgia is death” always sounded pretty harsh. Bob Dylan made that pronouncement during a newspaper interview in 1991. He meant that he did not wish to be defined by the music of his past, or to dwell on it, no matter how much his fans wanted to hear it. When you stop focusing on the … Continue reading Dusting off memories
A son’s gratitude
I have heard many fine eulogies over the years, struggled to give a few myself. The intention is to render tribute to the deceased and to comfort mourners with memories. At a funeral Mass Saturday morning at St. Leo’s Church in Baltimore's Little Italy, a brother eulogized his younger sister who had died after a … Continue reading A son’s gratitude
The origins of the Christmas story in ‘Baltimore, You Have No Idea’
A long time ago, when I read The Boston Globe every day, there was a reporter-turned-columnist named Jeremiah V. Murphy. He was an engaging writer. I remember a specific column he wrote about divorced fathers separated from their kids during the holidays. The sentiments expressed in the column were deeply empathetic, and the whole idea … Continue reading The origins of the Christmas story in ‘Baltimore, You Have No Idea’
Helene: A deadly, destructive hurricane … and wedding crasher (photos)
Here’s the lede of my Oct. 11 column in The Sun: The wedding had been planned for the 28th day of September at Old Sherrill’s Inn, about 12 miles outside Asheville, in the mountains of North Carolina. Iris Spik and Chris Chu had invited 94 relatives and friends to celebrate their marriage. Guests came from … Continue reading Helene: A deadly, destructive hurricane … and wedding crasher (photos)
Dan Rodricks 