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THE OLD REXBILT BRIEFCASE
Last week, I was startled to read in New Jersey’s leading journal, the “Star Ledger,” that the deposed head man of Lucent, Richie McGinn, got a going away present of 12 million dollars. His Chief Financial Officer, Debra Hopkins, who had only a year of service with Lucent, got pretty close to 4 million dollars.…
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THE BRENTWOOD, MO. HISTORICAL SOCIETY’S CONTRIBUTIONS
In the Midwest we are plain speakers. For example, turn to Carl Schroth’s letter to support my application to join the Army in wartime. (The Right Way; The Wrong Way; The Army Way”) He listed his Mobil Gas station as being at the corner of Clayton Road and North and South Road. Clayton Road was…
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The Plaque
The news about 32 Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the America’s) came as no surprise. When AT&T Long Lines moved to Bedminster N. J. in 1977, the die was cast. The headquarters for Long Lines and its successor organizations was to be in suburban New Jersey, not in New York City. The news first appeared as…
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IN MEMORIAM TO SPC
In Memoriam Shannon P. Catt A beloved lap cat who gave his family love and devotion without reservation for nearly 15 years. And said…“no chains shall sully thee, Thou soul of love and bravery, Thy songs were made for the pure and free, They shall never sound in slavery” Final verse of “The Minstrel Boy,”…
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ON MORTALITY
Two events in the last week led me to think a little about mortality. The first event has to do with old Shannon, our great cat. Shannon wandered out late in the night last week and another cat or raccoon beat up on him. As my parents would say in their Elizabethan English, currently he…
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LETTER TO HUTCHINSON NEWS
Mr. Greg Halling, Editor Hutchinson News 300 West 2nd Avenue Hutchinson, KS 67501 Mr. Greg Halling: This letter has been delayed for more than 56 years. It could have been written in September of 1942. And it could also have been written in late January of 1943. It has troubled me for all these years…
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THE PASTICHE
In recent months, a collection of essays has emerged from my participation in the Kessler Speech Therapy Program. As a general rule, these were travel experiences in various parts of the world. In effect, they were a little like a travelogue. And in nearly every one of those several episodes, the tone was positive and…
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HOWELL RAINES LOWERS THE BOOM
Start with a reading – not from Scripture, but from the next thing to it. “One reason for more meticulous recording of full names is that many of the figures in the current news will pass from the pages of newspapers in a few years, but The New York Times remains as a permanent record…
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BEN GIVENS’ NEWSPEAK
When, in an earlier discussion at Kessler, the subject of the former President Herbert Hoover came up. Mrs. Morganstein said that it was not unusual for Aphasia patents to mangle his name, i.e., Hoobert Heever. I gather that Spoonerisms are a commonplace and would involve other names beyond Herbert Hoover. During much of the last…
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QUID PRO QUO
As time sneaks up on us all, there is a question about Mr. Webster’s definition of compromise. He suggests that it is a settlement of differences by arbitration or by consent reached by mutual concessions. Now if it were all that easy, I’d say fine. Let’s raise the children in your faith of Buddhism and…