Regarding "Behind the blindfold," Ruth Marcus, Other Views, May 7: ...more

May 9, 2009

A local friend called to ask if I would give a talk at a meeting of a national group of retirees. Having spoken around town a few times, I threw out some ideas of fun topics for her to pick from. "No," she said, "I want you to speak on caregiving." ...more

March 18, 2009

Pain needs a voice. We describe what hurts to the doctor and he gives us a prescription to fix it, or tells us what to do. Saying what hurts us makes it possible to get well, and we're all good at describing the symptoms. "I have a sharp pain on the left side of my stomach." "I see bright wavy lines that dance around for a few minutes and then my head throbs." ...more

March 18, 2009

Pull Our Troops From Afghanistan Editor's note: The following is an open letter to President Barack Obama: ...more

March 5, 2009

On Sept. 5, 2008, Don Meyer, the men's basketball coach at Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D., was heading up a convoy of six cars toward a team preseason retreat. Apparently falling asleep at the wheel, Meyer drifted over a lane and hit a semi-truck head-on going 50 mph. ...more

January 29, 2009

The beleaguered principal of Alafia Elementary School began her work week Monday as she usually does – standing in front of the Valrico school as the students arrived by car, bus or holding the hands of their parents. ...more

November 26, 2008

Fear and uncertainty bring people together. Whereas Americans seem to be too competitive to share joy on any grand level, we have an amazing capacity for empathy during shared moments of pain. ...more

October 22, 2008

When most people think of Christmas morning they think of opening presents with friends and family. Troops overseas don't have that luxury, which is why Bob Williams of Support Our Troops is working so hard to send 40,000 1-gallon bags full of goodies to the troops. ...more

October 18, 2008

My earliest days are saturated with memories of cackling chickens. In 1951, my father bought a farm near Wood River, Ill. He kept his job as a laborer for the Shell Oil Refinery, but he built a chicken coop and raised a colony of Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island Reds and Leghorns. ...more

October 13, 2008

Last week, after LeBron James' mother Gloria shouted at Celtic Paul Pierce for tangling with LeBron as he headed for a slam dunk, millions of Americans saw LeBron yell at his mom, "Sit your (butt) down!" Comments on the Internet denounced Gloria James as an overbearing mom who needed to leave her grown son alone. "Miss James stay home throw a shoe at the T.V," read one post on sports.yahoo.com. "She is obnoxious and crude," said another. ...more

May 21, 2008