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THE EFFECTS OF APHASIA
There are those in academia who claim that knowledge of Latin gives a student a major leg up when it comes to understanding other foreign tongues. I am a great dissenter from that viewpoint. Latin is of no value in deciphering some of the world’s major languages, such as English or German, or any of…
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BANISHED THOUGHTS
Because of its sacredness, this is an essay that should be read in silence, preferably in a monastic setting. On the other hand, if you prefer to read it aloud in the midst of a bawdy house, there is nothing that can be done to stop that. The author would like to have the address…
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REFLECTIONS AS LIVES DRAW TO A CLOSE
For two or three years, it has been my intention to write an essay on poetry. If there is a human who knows less about the mechanics of poetry, it would be my pleasure to meet that person. Knowing almost nothing about how a poem is constructed does not bar me from commenting on the…
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A BUCKET OF WARM SPIT
It is widely believed by high school English teachers and prissy editors that spit is a horrid word. Before you consider joining the cabal condemning that descriptive word, it might be well to recall that it was used most effectively by a Vice President of these United States. When he used spit in a ringing…
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A TREATISE ON STROKES AND SEIZURES | An Informal Examination of Memory Loss vs. Aphasia
It is not my penchant to read Lancet or the New England Journal of Medicine and similar publications from cover to cover. In those august publications, scholars, clinicians, professors of medical science and physicians explain and debate matters of interest to the medical community. Significantly, journals of that sort almost exclusively state the case for…
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A WORD OR TWO ABOUT MATE, JOE AND YANK – AND STAYING STRONG | Meditations Chapter 18: First and Third Verses
Earlier this month, the news from Australia was profoundly disturbing. An element of the government there suggested that the Aussie population would be asked to avoid the use of “Mate” in addressing other people, Aussie or foreign. When John Howard the Prime Minister heard of this proposed edict, he denounced it – which is as…
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SECOND CHANCES | Meditations – Chapter Three
For nearly 63 years, this old broken-down soldier has thought that he and five other GI’s, could have acted more graciously in not accepting an offer by a gentleman to pay for a breakfast we ate in a civilian restaurant. Once the offer was either not accepted or if you will, rejected, there were no…
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FRITZ, JAEGER, MENCKEN AND HERSH
If someone were to ask me who ranks first among all American journalists and authors since we gained our independence 229 years ago, my answer would be prompt and unequivocal. Clearly, it is Henry Louis Mencken who edited the Baltimore Sunpapers as well as “The Smart Set” and “The American Mercury” magazines. For 60 years,…
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WE’LL KEEP A WELCOME
A TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE OF JEAN MC FARLAND LIVERMORE AND A COMMEMORATION OF MORE THAN 50 YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP WITH HARRY A. LIVERMORE “We’ll Keep a Welcome” is a Welsh song that personifies Jean McFarland Livermore’s life and to some extent, Grinnell College in Iowa which she attended. “We’ll Keep a Welcome” goes back…
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THOUGHTS THAT OCCUR WHILE SHAVING | Fourth Series of Thoughts
Hiraeth My friends whose native language is other than English, tell me that the language of England, which is also spoken in many other countries, is a rich and diverse language. By that, it is assumed that the English language has a term or an expression to fit almost any of mankind’s needs. While the…