This site has been running since 2006, when I foresaw a downturn in the newspaper industry that had been my bread and butter since 1988. As of today, you’ll notice a new feature to the right (or, if this column has been archived, on the right side of the home Read more…
One of the lightest memories to linger from my daughter’s 9-10-11 wedding involves a special guest, who did not receive an official invitation to the informal, country hitchin’—but who chose to attend, nonetheless. Insisted upon it, if you will, in a rather dramatic fashion. The wedding reception featured a veritable Read more…
The bride rode in on a tractor. She wasn’t chauffeured; she drove it herself. I think that takes the cake, as far as weddings go. And it may even be a first. All I know is, it was quite an entrance. “Gabby” does everything her way, and does a little Read more…
Having waited more than 20 years to hear Maya Angelou speak, I was not disappointed when she appeared at West Virginia University Friday night. I doubt the author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, among many other books, knows how to disappoint. I was a little surprised she Read more…
Here’s a bit of news you won’t read on The Daily Beast. My recent trip to New York had some wonderful highs and some serious lows, among which was being robbed. That’s a first for me, and one I’d rather not have experienced. I sure hope the thieves who broke Read more…
As a journalist, I was outraged when I learned of Lara Logan’s sexual assault. As a woman—even more so. With only two days to go until the release of a book about my own 13-year ordeal as a survivor of rape, I found it incredulous not only that Logan was Read more…
I’ve been thinking it for several years and now I think it’s time to say it. “It” being what I thought after taking a family friend to the movies today, where we watched a commercial prior to the beginning of what turned out to be five previews for other upcoming Read more…
You just never know where life will take you, but 20/10 looks promising. Life is full of exciting possibilities, and every day is a fresh page, waiting to be unfurled. I joined the ranks of the 15.3 million unemployed Americans some time ago, and I remain jobless today. That being Read more…
When it comes to protecting our children from abusive dating habits, by way of teaching them about healthy relationships, sex or even interpersonal boundaries, this is what’s happening all around the country: we are failing our youth. And if parents don’t stop with the “not my kid” mentality, what should Read more…
For the last two years I’ve been working at the Cumberland Times-News as a police reporter, where the press releases that cross my desk continually remind me why I wrote Sister Of Silence. Violence against women shows no sign of slowing, with more children sexually assaulted by their neighbors or Read more…