On September 6, I published an essay here entitled “The Authoritarian Madness of Donald Trump.” I’ve since deleted it, because two days ago I heard from Jay Jochnowitz, the Editorial Page Editor at the Albany Times Union, that they’re going to run it sometime next week. I’d nearly given up on their publishing it, which… [Read More]
Madly for Adlai and Jack at the Democratic National Convention in 1956
Safely hunkered down at home during the Covid pandemic, watching the virtual Democratic Convention on CNN this past week, I’ve been thinking about the convention I attended in Chicago in 1956, when Jack Kennedy burst on the scene as a rising star. The Senator from Massachusetts was in a tightly contested race for Vice President…. [Read More]
It’s the end of the world as we know it–so we might as well party
Back in the early 1960’s, I never imagined I’d live to turn 30. The threat of nuclear annihilation loomed over the planet. In high school, I’d been subjected to those ridiculous drills when we crouched under our desks, as if that would somehow save us from Communist bombs raining down and incinerating us. In my… [Read More]
Duty to Warn: Why Trump’s insanity threatens us all.
I wrote this essay in early May, hoping the Albany Times Union would run it on their op ed pages, but they still haven’t gotten around to it, so I’m finally publishing it here. It’s more urgent than ever, but people still don’t seem to understand how drastically ill he is. Duty to Warn: The… [Read More]
Boring in black: the me too movement and the Golden Globes
I wrote this opinion piece soon after the Golden Globes and sent it to the Albany Times Union, but since they haven’t published it, I decided to share it here. Reading it now, nearly a month later, I stand by what I said then. Awards shows are one of my guilty pleasures, and the Golden… [Read More]
In Memoriam: Windows on the World
Today I awoke to a beautifully cool, crisp September morning with a brilliant blue sky – a Tuesday morning very like the day sixteen years ago when the twin towers of the World Trade Center fell. Like millions of Americans, I have vivid memories of that ghastly morning embedded in my brain – the endlessly… [Read More]