Here we go again. The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in another critical case that could be decided by an originalist interpretation of the Constitution. The Court’s ruling, expected sometime in June, could [...]
Looking on the Good Side
The Constitution and Long-Dead White Men
Have you ever had the feeling of being “a day late and a dollar short?” It hit me twice recently, and it hasn’t completely gone away. It’s a little like what Opie Taylor said after [...]
Newest Justice Gives Table-Turning History Lesson
Recently, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson gave Justice Clarence Thomas and the three justices appointed immediately before her—Neil Gorsuch, Bret Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett—a history lesson in “originalism.” But I wonder, will it matter in [...]
Four-Leaf Clovers and Life-Changing Rocks
Other than I sometimes spend a few moments looking for four-leaf clovers while I’m outside with my dog Gracie, this post has nothing to do with clover. It has a lot to do, though, with [...]
Black Soldiers in WWI: Underappreciated Then and Long After
One of the important supporting characters in a new novel I expect to publish in the fall is a Black veteran of World War I. He got me to wondering how much, or how little, [...]
The Black and White of It: Southern Newspapers in the 50s
The first line of my novel Found in Pieces identifies Pearl Goodbar as the new owner and editor of a weekly newspaper, the Unionville Times, in 1958. That responsibility alone would have been challenge enough [...]