My dog and I returned from our morning walk to find the “Today” show reporting a plane hit a building in Lower Manhattan. I figured it was a student pilot in a small craft. Then they said airliner. Terrorism, I thought. In my home office, I dialed the modem that connected our Gannett/USA Today bureau in…… Continue Reading
Telling civil rights icon Andrew Young about making me a star
When I was a columnist in Atlanta, civil rights legend and former Ambassador the Rev. Andrew Young was elected mayor. I asked him to lunch for his take on politicians and others. He was so blunt and honest I didn’t use a lot of it in print. But I admired his frankness. Fast forward: I…… Continue Reading
That time I was Jesse Jackson’s date
My favorite Jesse Jackson memory: During the Carter administration my boss at morning journalism powerhouse The Atlanta Constitution was often called to Washington by his longtime friend President Carter. Such times I inherited the editor’s schedule. One such time Jesse Jackson was due in Atlanta. We had a receptionist, Trula Wilson, who happened to be…… Continue Reading
Goodbye to a New Jersey legend and decent human being
Having reached an age when many friends and people I knew professionally have passed on, I try to remember the good times and their contributions rather than mourn the loss. Comes word that former New Jersey state senator and governor, Richard J. Codey, 79, has passed away. This hurts more than most but I will…… Continue Reading
One small step for peace, but not end of war
The underlying causes of the Israel/Hamas war still exist. We are in a temporary ceasefire, Phase One, as Netanyahu put it. Despite what Trump said, it is not the biggest achievement in 3,000 years. It is a small step, but a significant one. That Trump pushed (maybe threatened) Netanyahu to go along with the ceasefire…… Continue Reading
An Atlanta native’s look at the big debate or Welcome to the ‘hood
Biden and Trump face off for what’s billed as a debate in my hometown, Atlanta. I know you are eager for the insider stuff from an Atlanta native. The debate comes from CNN’s Ted Turner Campus, what we used to call the Techwood Campus, a 30-acre facility in Midtown. CNN owner Warner Bros. renamed it…… Continue Reading
Maintaining the Dream
Sixty years ago today Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. presented what has been dubbed the “I have a dream” speech at the March on Washington. It moved a nation down the road to equality. He said: “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and…… Continue Reading
New Zealand will make you love life
New Zealand is the only place I ever went to bed telling myself it can’t get any better than this, only to find the next day it can. And to think it started on a plane ride from Cape Town to Johannesburg in 2017 when an Australian banker said, “South Africa is the second most…… Continue Reading
Those influences that change your life
My mom worked at a five and dime lunch counter in Atlanta when such places in other towns didn’t allow Black folks to eat there. A Black woman customer took a liking to my mom and said they had an opening at the garment factory where she worked; it paid a little more. She…… Continue Reading
The path more rewarding than the destination
Along the path. How blessed I am to have seen a lot of the world, some alone, some with friends? Always the road traveled and new friends met are as good or better than the destination. In Africa last month, I met a guy who plays for Italy’s national soccer team. Before that, for Florence,…… Continue Reading