For more than five years, I wrote a weekly opinion column for The Perry County Times and its affiliated papers in southcentral Pennsylvania. I saw this as a way to give something back to the rural community where we have a little farm called Pencil Creek, but the columns become an important part of my writing rhythm. In the world of novel-writing, where six months’ work can vanish in an instant and completion dates are reckoned in years, it’s not a bad thing to have a weekly deadline.
From time to time, when I wrote on a topic of regional or national interest, I published one of these pieces in a larger newspaper, but mostly they’re a reflection of my state of mind in any given week. Not to mention a launching-pad for my curiosity!
Here’s a complete archive of my Op-Eds. There are over 300 of them. Perhaps you’ll find one or two that agree with you…
Putting a Price on Local History, One Bid at a Time
It was an auctioneer’s dream. The contents of a historic estate on the block. Nearly four hundred eager bidders. Christmas looming on the horizon. A tent full of antique dealers and holiday gift-shoppers, all willing to go to the mat. The tent had been pitched...
The Boy on the Other Side of the Backglass
It seems like a million years ago, but there was a time when my friends and I would go to a five and dime called G.C. Murphy on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C., where I grew up, and play pinball. We were good boys. Choirboys, actually, at the National Cathedral....
Tearing Walls Down, Only to Build them Up
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall…” I have to disagree with the poet Robert Frost on this one. Something there is that does love a wall, especially if it’s one of the beautiful stone walls you see along hedgerows and under old...
Following a Red Brick Backward in Time (part one of three)
It started so simply. I just wanted some old bricks. So I did what people do these days when they’re looking for something on the cheap: I cruised Craigslist. And right there, in the “building materials” section, I came across an ad for salvaged...
Following a Red Brick Backward in Time (part two of three)
Last week, I wrote about the old County Home in Loysville, which was recently demolished. I was curious about the demise of such a proud building, so I went digging in my favorite histories of Perry County, Silas Wright’s (1873) and H.H. Hain’s (1922)....
Following a Red Brick Backward in Time (part three of three)
From the very beginning of our history, American attitudes towards the poor have been shaped by the Puritanical idea that poverty was a result of laziness or some other moral defect. People were not poor because they lacked opportunity. On the contrary, this was a...
On Frogs, Camels, Pinch-Bugs, and the Supremacy of Species
There comes a time each year after the holidays when the parties have died down, the “to do” list has been beaten into temporary submission, and visiting friends and family have, at long last, piled into their cars and headed off into the sunset. The house...
Perry County Mouse, Capitol City Mouse
From the Associated Press, December 18, 2009: The cafeteria in Pennsylvania’s Capitol in Harrisburg remained closed and workers scoured the facility Friday after health inspectors found evidence of a rodent infestation… Mice are no strangers to us...
Two Recent Cases from the Court of Public Opinion
Like many of you, I’ve been following the developments in the break-in and shooting at Shermans Dale Beer and Beverage. There’s something very upsetting about knowing the scene of a deadly crime first-hand. It’s a feeling I described in a column last...
It’s Never as Good or as Bad as You Think
Lately, I’ve been revising a novel. What does that mean? It means facing down a huge gnarly manuscript that’s been sitting, unloved, in a corner of your office since the triumphant moment you cried, “Thank God, it’s done!”...
It’s Very Realistic, But Does it Have Bad Breath?
Apparently, we have a new dog in the house. The other day, our daughter Nina announced that she’d adopted a pug named Victoria. Oh, really? I asked. Yes, she said, Victoria’s been living with us for weeks. This was news to me. Granted, I’m not the...
The Do-It-Yourselfer’s Guide to Snowshoes
Our first winter on St. Peter’s Church Road brought with it a doozy of a snowstorm. Everything was quiet, heavy, and bright. The old mower shed looked like it was staggering under the weight of its roof. The pond was a moonscape of ice, snow, and dark melt...
At Home by Ourselves, the Day Being Dreadfully Bad
By the time you read this, the great snow event of 2010 — the “Snowpocalypse,” “Snowmaggedon,” “Snowbama,” “Snowtorious B.I.G.,” etc., and the blizzard that followed three days later — will be fading from...
Going it Alone Isn’t What it Used to Be
A blizzard is a fine refresher course in self-reliance. When the sky is raging with apocalyptic snow and the governor announces that it’s illegal to drive, the sensible citizen says, “Hm, maybe I should stay in today.” Case in point, the recent...
An Elimination Chamber Match, Washington-style
Things were a lot simpler when I was a kid. Politics, for example. More to the point, professional wrestling. If you happened to tune into the World Wrestling Federation on a Saturday morning, you pretty much knew what to expect. There’d be a good guy and a bad...