Standing in the lobby of the gloriously ornate Chicago Tribune Tower, gazing at this James Madison quote, I am filled with pride. And fear. The pride stems not only from being a long-time member of the Fourth Estate but … Read more
Why it’s good: There are endless memories and memorials marking yesterday, the 17th anniversary of 9/11. I find it impossible to post about something else, but impossible to choose the right thing to post. Mostly I wish that the events … Read more
This passage – not quite a Haiku, but with that feeling – comes as part of Mary Oliver’s poem “Sometimes.” It is introduced in the poem as “Instructions for living a life.” I’m not good at poetry (a gap … Read more
Geraldine Brooks laid that line down in “Secret Chord,” her deeply researched and richly reimagined novel about the life of biblical King David, the psalm-writing, harp-playing, woman-lusting warrior. But they could speak just as well to the best … Read more
Sometimes a sentence stops me for reasons I can’t entirely explain, or even defend. Often it includes a moment of description or metaphor that teases out a personal memory, or plants the seeds of feelings. Almost always they capture the … Read more
Why it’s so great: This isn’t a particularly elegant sentence. It may even come across as disingenuous – a popular, successful Hollywood actor who, at 65, still claims to be a “humble student” of his craft. But “A Word With” … Read more
Why is this great? Writers wade into the world to witness it in all its dimensions, then remake it in the hieroglyphics we know as words – marks we use not just to describe, but to create meaning. Words can … Read more
Why it’s great: Deadline reporting of natural disasters is a tightrope walk. Too little drama and events are reduced to factoids that don’t take hold in the readers’ mind or heart. Too much and a story risks becoming overwrought. As … Read more
Why is it great? My mentor Ron Speer of the Virginian-Pilot liked the opening line of the Bible for Greatest Short Lede Ever. I go with Buchanan. I’m hooked with four words. I can’t stop reading. Not possible. I … Read more
