Poem: O, brothers
O, brothers Patrick T. Reardon O, mother. O, father. O, brother self-gone. O, gentle mechanic. O, woman of thunderhead. O, sleeper on the el train bassinette. [...]
Poem: Here I Am
Here I am Patrick T. Reardon Precious ointment, good name. Day of death is true north. Day of birth is first step. Feast when possible, mourn always, knowing [...]
Book review: “Farmer in the Sky” by Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein’s 1950 Farmer in the Sky has its moments — good and bad. Or, maybe better put, it has its good and bad moments for a reader like [...]
Book review: “Field Guide to Illinois Mammals” by Joyce E. Hofmann
The new edition of Joyce E. Hofmann’s Field Guide to Illinois Mammals is sturdy and beautifully packaged, savvy and erudite. It’s easy to hold in your hand while out in [...]
Poem: Learning reporting
Learning reporting Patrick T. Reardon Learning reporting at City News Bureau of Chicago, a boot camp for fact-gathering marines, beaten and hammered and formed by a drill sergeant editor, [...]
Book review: “God’s Englishman: Oliver Cromwell and the English Revolution” by Christopher Hill
In May, 1650, after Oliver Cromwell’s successful invasion of Ireland, he returned to London to face a new threat. Within a few months, he took his Parliamentarian army north to [...]
Book review: “The Passover Haggadah: A Biography” by Vanessa L. Ochs
A Haggadah is a “telling,” and Vanessa L. Ochs’s 2020 book The Passover Haggadah: A Biography is a telling of the life story of this Jewish ritual of remembering and [...]
Poem: Rise up in splendor, Chicago!
Rise up in splendor, Chicago! Patrick T. Reardon Rise up in splendor, Chicago! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord. See, darkness in the alleys, under viaducts, [...]
Book review: “The Temple of Jerusalem” by Simon Goldhill
For a building that has been gone for nearly 2,000 years, the Temple of Jerusalem remains a surprisingly vibrant presence and a resonant symbol in world culture today. And also, [...]
Book review: “This Gun for Hire” by Graham Greene
The Chief Constable and Sir Marcus are minor stars of Graham Greene’s 1936 novel This Gun for Hire in the way of bit players in Shakespeare’s plays, such as the [...]