The 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, two days ago now, prompted thoughts of Primo Levi's If This Is A Man: Remembering Auschwitz, which I read four or five years ago but which remains vivid in my memory. One of the aspects of Levi's writing that had such a strong effect on me was…

In my book, sports and politics don't mix. I root for the home team, especially when US athletes are going up against Belorussian boxers or Russian wrestlers. But I'm still pissed at Jimmy Carter for boycotting the Moscow Olympics in '80. It was a well-meaning gesture, but it didn't do diddly to get Soviet tanks…

In another life, I wouldn't mind coming back as Jim Harrison.  A tough guy with a soft heart, Harrison's best known for his poetry and his novellas, most notably Legends of the Fall.  He also apparently made some good money writing screenplays and enjoyed life in Hollywood's fast lane for a few years.  But he…

Not mine–I'm still thinking about them.  But that of a young man of our acquaintance: "Quit trying to quit all the bad stuff I do."