The world lost a brilliant man this month. I lost a mentor and friend. That man was Chitresh Das, a brilliant Indian dancer. He was only seventy years old, at the peak of his career and creativity. The cause of death was an aortic rupture…I don’t know the details… only that he died quickly without[…]
Thoughts at Large
Nobody plans to get cancer. Nobody intends to interrupt their lives in such a drastic fashion, to undergo painful traumatic treatment regimens, to live for (hopefully) years with nagging uncertainty about a possible cancer recurrence. Yet, this is exactly what happens to thousands of people every year in every walk of life. In the old[…]
Kiel Harbor view In April 1969, I made what, in retrospect, was the biggest transformational step of my life. I left the USA for a “junior year abroad” in Kiel, Germany. I ended up staying out of the country for three[…]
On the occasion of the Memorial Day holiday, Susan and I watched the large outdoor concert that was held in Washington, DC, on the mall which stretches between the Capitol building and the Lincoln Memorial. There were great singers singing patriotic songs accompanied by the National Symphony Orchestra.
Thanksgiving Week 2013 “You can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy.” –variation on an old cliché The only time I reconnect with my “country-boy” roots is when I visit the “country place” in Alabama where I spent my childhood. My whole life I’ve declared[…]
Ever since I left the US at age twenty-one to study my “junior year abroad” in Germany, I’ve considered myself to be a “citizen of the world,” as opposed to loving my country, “right or wrong.” I have a deep and active interest in international politics and in the quality of social discourse. I love[…]
Välkomna till Sverige! (Welcome to Sweden, Y’all!) Let me describe Sweden at “midsommar,” the longest day of the year (June 21). This day is one of Sweden’s biggest holidays for good reason…It’s the most beautiful time of year in Scandinavia, the season of the “midnight sun.” The midnight sun is only visible as far south[…]
This is my third trip to Israel. My wife Susan’s sister and brother-in-law live in Rehovot, a city close to Tel Aviv. We’ve always felt safe when visiting Israel. My perspective on Israel is necessarily an American one. Israelis (including my relatives here) disagree with some of my conclusions. In any case, the closer perspective[…]