By MONTE DUTTON Click here. On the night of January 2, something unprecedented happened. My stomach blew up. It perforated. I couldn’t get out of bed till morning. I went to the hospital without shoes, laptop and keys, from home to Laurens to Greenville. Surgery was late that night.I had posted 40 stories in 40 …
Tag: writing
A Christmas morning collection of inspiration
By MONTE DUTTON Click here. Merry Christmas. After the sleepless childress have experienced the wonder of the glittering tree and the presents scattered around it, let us find time to contemplate the soul of our being, where we are and where we are going."We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though …
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Furmanology: Just call the latest Paladin Smitty
By MONTE DUTTON (File photo) Click here. I went through college in a period of little unrest. I read about the 1960s and watched it all on TV as a boy, but the biggest threat to the Furman campus in the late 1970s and early 1980s was the invasion of Citadel cadets the night before …
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Furmanology: Morgan struggles at Augusta
Anna Morgan (Furman photo) Click here. Isn’t it amazing how big women’s basketball has become? Isn’t it amazing how important women have become in areas where they were not always so influential? In a way, basketball is just hand in hand with everything else … which is great. For instance, I have grown familiar by …
Readin,’ writin’ and watchin’
By MONTE DUTTON (Pixabay) The weekend was uneventful but worthwhile. I spent most of my time writing my next, and 10th, novel, The Graduate Transfer, which doesn’t get italics until it’s published. I already had 19,000 words, but now the 19,000 are different ones (as if most weren’t already). I decided to use the original …
Gettin’ by on gettin’ by
By MONTE DUTTON (Monte Dutton photos) One of my favorite jokes to tell on myself is: Some of the time I’m a writer, but most of the time I’m just a typist. Right now, most of the time I’m a writer. Let me explain. The late Laurens County Sports and Furman All the Time were …
Are the Good Times Really Over for Good?
Clinton, South Carolina, Tuesday, September 1, 2002, 8:36 a.m. Wow. It’s September. When will wonders cease? For the first time in my life, something has happened that is as bad as it could be. I’m grading on a curve. In absolute terms, the novel coronavirus COVID-19 – epidemic regionally, pandemic worldwide – could theoretically dwell …
A Strange Significance
Clinton, South Carolina, Wednesday, August 19, 2020, 1:05 p.m. The coronavirus blurs the lines between major and minor accomplishments. On Monday night, I finished the 22nd chapter of a novel. I’m closing in on the completion of the rough draft, but it’s not quite as rough because I’ve done a lot of retracing my steps …
You Just Can’t Beat Technology
Clinton, South Carolina, Thursday, June 25, 2020, 1:14 p.m. Technology. Can’t live with it. Can’t live without it. It is supposed to be our friend. In many cases, it isn’t. In the newspaper business, nearly 30 years ago I worked for a large metropolitan newspaper. When I was there, toiling on the desk, that paper …
Forever Lulled
Clinton, South Carolina, Saturday, June 13, 2020, 9:53 a.m. What have I learned from the great vacant year of 2020? I’ve got plenty of time to ponder this absence of normality. It’s only half over as the calendar flies. The pandemic is a house fire that continues to flare up every time it looks like …
Nightrider's Lament 