"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)
Mara Neira (Monte Dutton photo) Click here. In the small town of Clinton, some folks are aghast that the local college has such a tough path to the women’s basketball championship. Why must the Blue Hose have to be in a play-in? And, if they manage to defeat Sacred Heart, next is the No. 1 …
Continue reading County Signs: Hose get ready for taste of bigs
Clinton, South Carolina, Saturday, April 18, 2020, 8:37 a.m. Back when I traveled most of the country, writing about race cars that went ’round and ’round and the mostly white men who drove them, my favorite device was not a shock absorber but its literary equivalent, satire. Once -- it was in Dover, Delaware, I …
Clinton, South Carolina, Monday, March 30, 2020, 7:45 p.m. When I read Don Quixote, I found it astonishing to learn that the art of comedy had not notably advanced in over four centuries. Salman Rushdie’s Quichotte takes Miguel de Cervantes forward and adds levels that would not have been structurally feasible in 1616, when the …
Clinton, South Carolina, Monday, November 11, 2019, 9:51 a.m. Most mornings, I get up, put some coffee on, plug in the cell to recharge, take some medication, and retire to the facilities. Then I return, sit down and arm the laptop (okay, sign on), let the coffee cool a bit, and check the morning email …
Clinton, South Carolina, Tuesday, September 17, 2019, 12:49 p.m. One of the small attributes that has grown within me as I’ve aged is an attempt to minimize the effect of superstition in my life. This sort of began with research for my third novel, Crazy of Natural Causes (2015). The story of Chance Benford required …
Clinton, South Carolina, Saturday, July 6, 2019, 1:49 p.m. I’ve restrung two guitars this week during the time I could spare from work. I also worked on my next novel on consecutive days for the first time in at least six months. Independence Day gave me some time for independence. I had a few local …
Clinton, South Carolina, Monday, July 4, 2019, 8:29 p.m. So many words are insufficient. I’ve never liked to say that I “covered” something, such as, oh, stock car racing for 20 years. Sometimes I say it or tweet it, but I try not to write it. I’ve never liked the notion that I “pull” for …
Clinton, South Carolina, Tuesday, July 2, 2019, 11:20 a.m. For about a month now, I’ve thought that next year, when I vote for the first time, it will also be the first time I walk into a poll unsure of my choice. The more I think about, this is natural. It’s likely that if I …
Clinton, South Carolina, Friday, June 14, 2019, 12:22 p.m. What is better now than it used to be? Special K. Remember when kids jockeyed for position to get the best cereal ahead of their siblings from the Kellogg’s Snack Pack? Special K wasn’t special at all. It usually got thrown away. It was supposed to …
Clinton, South Carolina, Friday, May 17, 2019, 10:42 a.m. Realistically, there’s not much else I really want to do. At this point, a bucket list is kind of silly. It would have been worthwhile when I was young. Maybe if I’d decided back then I wanted to go to Venice – or the Knoxville Nationals …
Nightrider's Lament 