Writing I admire

15.  From the New York Times, November 28, 2023. Ramboy .  ' We Don't Want to Let It Go':  A Family Farm in Ireland Prevails .  By Matthias Joulaud and Lucien Roux.  29 minutes. After watching Ramboy I was reminded of another NYT feature that I love; The World Through a Lens and the following is one of my favorites.     From the New York Times, June 6, 2020. The World Through a Lens .   Shearing Sheep, and Hewing to Tradition, on an Island In Maine .  Photographs by Greta Rebus.  Text by Galen Koch and Greta Rebus. In a remote area of Maine, the Wakeman family maintains the tradition of island shepherding, the cycles of which have been largely unchanged for centuries.

14.  David Brooks in his audio essay:   Staying Humane in Inhumane Times , published and recorded in the New York Times, November 26, 2023. David Brooks is my favorite opinion writer.  Maybe one of my favorite writers of anything.  This was not always true when he wrote primarily just about politics from a conservative point of view.  But in recent years - say the past ten years, or so - and when politics became so misguided and violent worldwide, he broadened his writing and argument toward the humanist existence in our messy times.  He, more than another writer that I am acquainted with, has been a beacon to those who want to imagine, and if lucky enough, also experience, a different path for human existence.  ___________________ In my blog introduction I wrote that I was inspired to keep this blog by David Brooks who, at the end of each year (coming up soon now), publishes his Sidney Awards column in the New York Times with writing published during...

13.  Personal History.: My Father's Stack of Books , by Kathryn Schulz.  Published in The New Yorker, March 18, 2019.  Illustration by Rose Wong " My father had a ravenous love of books, and his always had a devoured look to them ."  The illustration alone invites you to read this beautiful essay.  Kathryn Schulz is one of my favorite New Yorker writers and this essay reveals why.  I sent the link to this piece to two friends, both fathers and both readers and book lovers, on Father's Day 2019. I love this personal essay for many reasons.  But, for me, the crème de la crème is a paragraph toward the end that reads like a thing of beauty.  Schulz writes: In a kinder world—one where my father’s childhood had been less desperate, his fear of financial instability less acute, his sense of the options available to him less constrained—I suspect that he would have grown up to be a professor, like my sister, or a writer, like me. As it was, he derived e...

 12 .  A Reporter At Large:   Trial by Fire , by David Grann.  Published by The New Yorker, August 31, 2009. I can remember when I read this essay.  In those days, my newest New Yorker arrived in my mailbox, mostly without fail, each Friday.   In those days an individual copy of the magazine cost $4.99. “No Trespassing,” by Istvan Banyai. Friday evenings were my favorite of the week.  After working all week, usually long hours, I arrived home with the relief of two free days in front of me.  Saturday night was good, bur Friday night was better.  After bringing in the mail, I usually sat down and looked through the New Yorker index.  If there was nothing going on that evening (usually),  I selected an article to read.  As this was summertime, even now I can see how my evening panned out.  Along with dinner and red wine, I carried the New Yorker out to my patio table and began reading.  It's a summer habit I started a ...

11 .   The Shadow Armada:  The Crimes Behind the Seafood You Eat by Ian Urbina, published by The New Yorker, October 16, 2023.  Pages 36-47. The print issue of The New Yorker articles often have, as is the case here, a different title for their on-line version of the article.  For the link I provide above, I combined the print version title The Shadow Armada with the on-line version title The Crimes Behind the Seafood You Eat .   I hope it is accessible without a subscription.  If not, individual issues of The New Yorker can be purchased on-line or should be available in most public libraries.   This piece fits the category of what I'm reading now ; for a Zoom New Yorker discussion group this evening.  I think it is long enough to classify as long-form journalism.  It is deeply disturbing and dismaying on many different levels and, I suppose, depending upon the reader, it might be difficult to get through.  It covers a topic which I th...

10 .   10 Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are) published by the on-line Merriam-Webster Dictionary.  My 10th post starts with the number 10!  Blue-footed Booby ( Sula nebouxii).   Have never seen one, but would surely love to. Copied from M-W website.  I'm an on-line subscriber to the daily Merriam-Webster Word of the Day.  Today's word is  analogue  which is a word I like.  I'm also a bird watcher and nature lover.  This piece will soon phase out and I want to capture it here so I won't lose it. I recommend subscribing to the M-W Word of the Day.  Each daily update is fun, absorbing and informative.  When you finish playing Wordle , you will find many more word games here to sharpen your skills.  The M-W Word of the Day is free, but there is also an on-line paid subscription option.  Clicking on the 10 Bird Names ... link above will allow you explore all of the M-W website offerings and featur...

9 .  I played high school basketball.   Girls basketball.  Back in the day.  This is probably very clichéd, but because I was not a scholar in high school, being on the girls ' basketball team probably saved me.  I loved it. Bobby Knight, the long-time Indiana University basketball coach, died yesterday.  Of course, I watched basketball on our little black and white TV.  I didn't like Bobby Knight.  Frankly, for those who remember the man, and if watching him coach on TV was the only way of knowing him, I don't think anyone did. The New York Times Athletic published Bobby Knight's obituary this morning:   Legendary college basketball coach Bob Knight dies at 83 .  It might be the longest obituary you will ever read. Photograph:  On-line jpeg image.  Photographer unknown. The author, Seth Davis, really humanizes the man.  He does not overlook, excuse or cover-up Knight's flaws, but he gives us the full picture of the man. ...