"Why do they [write] for their money? Why do they [work] for short pay? They ain't getting nowhere and they're losing their share. They must have gone crazy back there." — Michael Burton (paraphrased)
When he was eleven years old, and made his allowance by stacking cans on the shelves of Dunnaway’s Curb Market on Thursdays, Eddy thought his grandfather, Jackson Dunnaway, was the wisest man on earth. “Papa Jack” gave the best advice. One Thursday, after the grocery order was up and the two of them were sitting …
Continue reading The Plagiarist of Winfield Shoals, Part One
As Beau Farnsworth reached middle age, he grew discontented and felt buried by the trappings of fame. An argument might be made that the prices were a mite high, but when a fan bought a tee shirt, he didn’t actually buy a piece of Beau. He just bought a shirt. Too many of them acted …
When I was a kid, the president got assassinated. The Vietnam “Conflict” cost the country more than 58,000 lives. Riots left many major cities in flames. It was wave on wave: JFK, Vietnam, civil rights, cultural upheaval, RFK, Dr. King, Watergate, Wallace, etc., etc. Don’t tell me times are hard. For some people, times are …
Why did I write The Intangibles? The first motivation was that I wanted to communicate what it was really like in the South when schools were integrated. In the midst of problems we face as a society today, I wanted to provide some perspective into the times that molded the parents – and even the …
Here's the entire short story I've been writing for the past week or two. It's based on a song I wrote called "If the Good Lord's Willing (and the Creek Don't Rise)": There wasn’t anything wrong with Red Hawthorn that a couple eggs couldn’t fix, or, at the very least, help. He got up Friday morning …
Here’s what happens when you’re over 50 years old but interact with lots of people who are younger. You can’t believe they don’t know how great Johnny Unitas was until you realize that Unitas to them is Red Grange to you. How comes kids don’t ever seem to ride their bikes? Tattoos. Yecchh. What do …
I read last night that 35 states pay welfare benefits that are higher than the minimum wage. This is bad, but it’s not because welfare is too high. It’s because wages are too low. Duh. The rest of this is going to be based on the “micro,” not the “macro.” It’s from observations around town. …
Could we talk about … weed?Look, it can be bad for you. I’ve known people who have smoked entirely too much marijuana. I’ve known people who have drunk entirely too much liquor. (Drinking too much beer is a little harder, but it happens.)The alcoholics were much worse off.At this point, the argument sometimes morphs into …
Nightrider's Lament 