Monthly Archives: February 2019

Travel log: Hollywood here we come May 20, 1975 Helen and I could not be more excited.  We have been saving up for our Hollywood vacation.  Living in the Midwest, we have never seen the Pacific Ocean or palm trees, … Continue reading →

I’ve been away from home for most of the year and Thanksgiving Day is looming large in my mind and more so in my heart.  Thinking about the turkey dinner and all the extras lightened my sense of loneliness. But, … Continue reading →

It’s time for therapy to re-invent itself. It’s been quite some time since patients reclined on sofas and related their sexual fantasies about their parents. Although there’s nothing wrong with that and it can be a source of entertainment at … Continue reading →

This was Ed’s first visit to the Silver Goblet wine bar.  He hoped to hook up with the opposite sex for a one nighter and his recent attempts at other bars had been less successful, so he was feeling a … Continue reading →

  Jerry groused all the way home. He was on a roll with no homework assigned over the holiday weekend. That is, until his last period – English class. Mrs. McMurphy assigned a 100-word essay. The whole class moaned. “Now … Continue reading →

The mid-1970”s marked my first visit to Los Angeles to see my best friend, Paul. There I experienced a number of firsts in my life. Three of them stand out. I remember my first “lesson” was how to safely walk … Continue reading →

    The scene: a dingy bar in the east village in New York. The time: August, 1936 Tony Lucchese and Vincent Gigante are sitting at a table in a private room.   Tony:  We aint’t got no cherce. We … Continue reading →

ACT ONE  (Setting – late 1950’s.  Studio press secretary  addresses newspress (real audience). Secretary:  Ladies and gentlemen of the press…welcome to an exclusive taping of the new TV show…Whodunnit. (cue card for applause). Each week we will be showing an … Continue reading →

Scene 1: The setting is a posh Victorian living room with the massive bookcase, desk, sofas oriental rugs and a dead body lying in a pool of blood near the doorway. The detective stoops over the body with eyes scanning … Continue reading →

Scene opens: The male human body lies on a sandy dune 50 yards from the high tide surf line, fully clothed, face up, a small hole in the right temple, a larger one on the left side just past the … Continue reading →

    INNER SANCTUM   Let’s see, I was about nine years old and felt that I was old enough to stay home without a baby sitter. Anyway, the sitter was a real pill, strongly enforcing all the myriad instructions … Continue reading →

Harriet and Rebecca were standing in line at the only lunch counter at Chicago’s Midway airport.  They were in between flights as flight attendants at Capitol Airlines. As the airport was just retrofitted for the new passenger airplanes, it was … Continue reading →

My first alcohol came during my Senior year of high school.  One of my friends, John Baxter, invited me and another friend, Tony Lefteris, to his house for an overnighter on a weekend his parents were away, his older sister … Continue reading →

Bypassing the most obvious heroes in my life – Mom and Dad chief among them – I’ve always looked up to my best friend, Paul. Our friendship dates back to high school, some 55 years ago. We had similar interests, … Continue reading →

A mob scene prevailed, although there was no violence. Everyone was just tightly packed together, uniform in appearance and mission. However There is a tension hovering in the air anticipating the Big One coming soon. The mass of participants, thousands … Continue reading →

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN   Geraldo Rivera gave me the address of this house in New York’s lower east side in a rapidly decaying, unsafe neighborhood. He didn’t want to take a chance on another Al Capone’s safe disaster. He assured … Continue reading →

I am a first. First boy of the marital union of my parents. Everything I ever did was a first. Even the second time I did something it was the first time I did it secondly. And on and on … Continue reading →

Gertie was a shy girl who never seemed to fit in.  Grade school, junior high, high school.  She was always on the outside looking in.  And with a name like Gertie, she got picked on and bullied by boys and … Continue reading →

GOUDA FOR YOU   I am a mouse – not just any mouse. I am “Mighty Mouse”! You got a problem with that? No wise cracks – I’ve heard them all. Few live to repeat them! My family, ten little … Continue reading →

Urho Rantanen seventh son of his father, a seventh son himself, and second generation American of Finish ancestry, resided in a neat little house on the south side of the hill in Centennial Heights.  The baby of the baby of … Continue reading →

[Writer’s caveat: This story is about a fictional President! The story does present political views, but the purpose is purely to advance the story, not to advocate or debate particular views] When I got to be a teen, I learned … Continue reading →

Jerry groused all the way home. He was on a roll with no homework assigned over the holiday weekend. That is, until his last period – English class. Mrs. McMurphy assigned a 100-word essay. The whole class moaned. “Now class, … Continue reading →

At an early age, I had confidently mastered walking, running and skipping. Then it was on to an occasional series of one-legged hops and spins mandated when encountering one of several hopscotch grids that were neatly etched on the chalked … Continue reading →

I’ll never be tall, muscular, handsome, super bright, clever or charming. We’ll leave that to the movie stars. Of course, most of these movie stars are several times divorced, alcohol and drug addicted and depressed. Maybe average isn’t so bad. … Continue reading →