August 2, 2023

Warren G. Harding’s Turnaround of America

Today marks the one hundredth anniversary of the death of Warren Gamaliel Harding, a man almost universally identified as one of the worst Presidents ever. In truth, Harding was not nearly as bad as history has treated him. Writers like Ryan S. Walte...

September 3, 2020

RIP Tom Seaver, baseball great and more

If a sculptor were looking for a model for a statue of a baseball pitcher, he would be well served to use Tom Seaver (coincidentally, the younger brother of a sculptor).  Seaver exuded an image of physical prowess, combined with a rare inte...

July 7, 2020

'Ain't it good to be alive and be in Tennessee?'

That was Charlie Daniels's exhortation to the musicians and fans who attended his Volunteer Jams during the seventies and eighties.  It was a fitting sentiment from a man who loved his country — and the South in particular —...

May 27, 2018

As you watch the Indy 500, remember a good man

For those living in and around Indianapolis (and motor sports fans everywhere), today is Race Day – the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500.  It is presented as a Memorial Day tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice while s...

January 26, 2017

Mary Tyler Moore: RIP

Mary Tyler Moore died yesterday, reminding me that time passes far too quickly.  Regardless of her politics (she was an old-school Hollywood liberal), I have always admired those who strove for excellence in their work, and Moore certainly quali...

September 26, 2016

Arnold Palmer, 1929-2016

The year 2016 is lining up as brutal year for notables.  The latest casualty is Arnold Palmer, “the man who saved golf.” Born in 1929, Palmer literally grew up on a golf course: the Latrobe Country Club.  His father, Mil...