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“AND HE NEVER SAID A MUMBLIN’ WORD”
Those of you who have been reading my essays over the years, know that spirituality is not a function, major or minor, in my life. But music that celebrates spirituality is something that I treasure. I treasure it for the music, not for the spirituality. I am fully aware that some people, perhaps most people,…
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KATHLEEN MAVOURNEEN: AN ADVENTURE STORY
During the 1930s and 40s, and perhaps a bit longer, there was a magnificent tenor who appeared in several productions of The Metropolitan Opera as well as in concerts. He also appeared on radio and later on television programs like The Bell Telephone Hour and The Firestone Hour. I was glad to tell people that…
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ARGUENDO
The title for this essay is Arguendo. It is a Latin phrase. It means for the sake of argument. This is not an essay about Latin phrases but rather it is an essay about music. Arguendo, I would contend that the best poetry is written by the lyricists who write the words to the music…
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WHY DO I CRY?
This essay is being dictated on the Friday evening of September 14. At the moment, I am in a thoroughly somber mood. The somber mood comes from having listened to the broadcast from Andrews Air Force Base, which was the site of ceremonies honoring the four dead Americans who perished recently in Libya. If I…
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ROLL, JORDAN, ROLL
Contemplating the essay that I am about to write, I have come to the conclusion that more than anything, it is about curiosity. The curiosity is my own. For many years, I have wondered about the Jordan River and whether or not it really rolled. But there are some things to take care of before…
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MITT AND WILLIE
The principal characters in this essay are Mitt Romney, the Republican aspirant to the presidency of the United States, and a fellow called Willie Nelson, who is a singer of folk songs. My memory is that Willie Nelson is perilously close to being 80 years of age. The knock on Mitt Romney is that he…
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CHARLES H. AND LITTLE AUGUST
Over the years I have introduced you, my readers, to the various members of my family. In total, there were eight children. Martha and Ruth, born in 1920 and 1924, were probably stillbirths. That was a subject that the children were never encouraged to ask about. Also in 1924 there was the death of my…
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DID THE WELSH THROW IN THE TOWEL WITH THE BRITS?
The title of this essay may arouse some question. This essay is about the Welsh people who are my fellow Celts. It is also about a boxing term having to do with throwing in the towel. When there are two fighters involved in a boxing match, there are occasions when one fighter may have beaten…