I could tell from the way he decorated the inside of his sedan that the Uber driver was a fan of professional basketball. So, as is my habit, I struck up a conversation. I found the driver congenial, talkative and informative. He got me up to date on the National Basketball Association playoffs. He spoke … Continue reading Strange interlude: What I heard on the ride home
A century-old sycamore: Pardon me while I stare
There are some old photographs, hanging in libraries and published in books, of the final days of giant trees that lived hundreds of years in the East before the pioneers and colonists arrived, before the farmers and lumberjacks, before the railroads and the highways -- way back, in the words of Gordon Lightfoot, "when the … Continue reading A century-old sycamore: Pardon me while I stare
Eternal Coach: Remembering Gene Hackman for his role in ‘Hoosiers’
Like many of his fans across the land, I dialed up “Hoosiers,” the 1985 film about small-town Indiana basketball, to honor the film’s star, Gene Hackman, and to remember him after his passing at 95 in his acting glory. He comes into the story right away, during opening credits, arriving at Hickory High School in … Continue reading Eternal Coach: Remembering Gene Hackman for his role in ‘Hoosiers’