Alexander Hamilton
As soon as I “met” Alexander Hamilton as a statue while Celebrating Independence in Philadelphia, I began reading Alexander Hamilton, the 2005 biography by Ron …
Lowland = High Impact
I first met two of the main characters in this novel, Subhash and Udayan Mitra, almost three years ago, when the first chapter …
The True American
The True American: Murder and Mercy in Texas by Anand Giridharadas is a gripping account of a horrible crime in Dallas almost 15 years …
Sailor, Sinner, Stargazer
It took me 16 years to get around to this book and another 16+ hours to read it, but discovering a remarkable female …
Gripping Story
Another book about the Holocaust? Yes, and a great one it is. Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project by Jack Mayer …
Revisiting Austria
Here I am on my Experiment in International Living. In the summer of 1965 I traveled to Austria with nine other American college …
Immigration Week at CHQ
For the fourth year in a row we were fortunate to spend a week at Chautauqua in western New York with our …
Terrorism in Charleston
When I heard of the shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston on June 17, I realized that I had read about …
Texas’ French Connection
In 1686 the last ship of a doomed French colonization effort in Texas ran aground and sank in Matagorda Bay. There it …
Margaret and Me
Nine years ago my friend Margaret Lampe began telling me stories of her remarkable family and I began writing them down. In …