By Jacqui Banaszynski The primary New York Times obit of Henry Kissinger listed it as a “38 MIN READ.” I checked the clock, my to-do list and my energy level. Then I bookmarked the obit for … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski Clichés are to good writing as fill in your preferred cliché here. A student of mine once challenged that notion. She insisted that clichés are a good thing: They are a universal shorthand — a way … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski Last week brought the sad news of the deaths of more fine journalists I’ve been graced to know. One was Jim Caple, who was one of those sports reporters who saw sports through … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski The fall equinox takes the Earth’s Northern Hemisphere into official autumn tonight. There’s already been a dusting of snow in the high Cascades that rise just west of my cabin; the furnace, turned low during summer, … Read more
By Jacqui Banaszynski In the mood for an enduring romance? Mine came this week through the obituary of Marilyn Lovell, wife of Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell. The couple were … Read more
By Erik Ness Most streets worth walking — and bars worth drinking in — contain multitudes. Writers love to have choices. But with so many options available, the challenge becomes guiding a reader into both the soul of a … Read more
By Trevor Pyle It would be easy for a writer to jumble himself into knots of frustration writing about Tom Sizemore, the incendiary “Saving Private Ryan” and “Strange Days” actor who died last … Read more
The Queen is dead. Long live the King. OK, that may be the most predictable line I’ve ever written, but a version of it has been working for the Brits for, what, about 1,100 years … Read more
Tributes this past week to basketball great Bill Russell were as many as they were deserved. I couldn’t follow them all, which is a pity. Sportswriting and obituaries often display some of the best writing in journalism. Wedding the … Read more
Every afternoon when I was a kid, the Green Bay (Wisconsin) Press Gazette landed in the driveway of our house. Actually, squinting back, I think it got tucked between the storm door and screen door. Such were the small … Read more