Book review: “Rocka Million: A Manifesto for the Gutsy Micropreneur” by Sue Reardon
When I was laid off by the Chicago Tribune five and a half years ago, I lost my desk and my byline, but also the community of smart, curious and [...]
Book review: “Neverhome” by Laird Hunt
It was maybe an hour after I finished reading Laird Hunt’s new novel Neverhome that the gears of my mind suddenly shifted and fell into place.. Up until that point, [...]
Book review: “Man’s Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy” by Viktor E. Frankl
Sigmund Freud once said that, if you take a widely diverse set of people and starve them, soon all their differences will fall away to be replaced by “the uniform [...]
Poem: “Rose Red”
. I answer the door. The bear is there. He says, “Fear not.” He is cold and wants a fire to sit by. In he comes. Snow White raises her [...]
Poem: “The Birth of the Buddha — 11.22.1949”
(A) New born, I shine as gold. My blue eyes glow. Seven steps I take, a lotus in each footprint. Pointing to the sky, I say: “I am born for [...]
Book review: “1776” by David McCullough
Give David McCullough credit. After a hugely successful career as a historian, he set out, in his late 60s, to write a book that was a far cry from his [...]
An open letter to Chicago’s archbishop-elect Blase Cupich
Dear Archbishop-elect Cupich: Eat at Burger King. By yourself. In street clothes. If you want to get to know Chicago and those of us who live here, go to the [...]
Book review: “Treasures of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library,” edited by Glenna R. Schroeder-Lein
The bust of Abraham Lincoln II My suspicion is that you don’t know that there was an Abraham Lincoln II. I hadn’t until I read Treasures of the Abraham [...]
Book review: “The Book of Bebb” by Frederick Buechner
Miriam is dying. Her twin brother Antonio has brought to her hospital room her two young sons 12-year-old Chris and 10-year-old Tony. Her ex-husband Charlie, whose idea of a good [...]
Poem: How to throw bricks
Pavement cave-in around manhole. Excavated on the fallen side of the brick chimney to the deep sewer. A small pit, earth here, damaged brick tower there. Mason climbs down with [...]