Family

Invisible lessons

16 June 2013

One of the more difficult aspects to moving away from South Florida has been leaving my dad behind. No, I didn’t spend a lot of time at his house before I moved — “cat’s in the cradle” and all that maudlin business — but it was good to have him close by, and know that seeing each [...]

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Why Hallowe’en?

2 October 2010

“Hallowe’en is my most important holiday. I am not a pagan, born-again or otherwise, although I have nothing against members of those ancient and venerable (or new-age and invented) orders. However, my sentiment has nothing to do with any religion, organized or not, so we can safely leave those discussions out of this particular story. No, my love of All Hallows Eve is a little more personal.” [First published in Ambergris From Leviathan Hallowe'en Special, October 1989]

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Little brother

3 April 2010

“My younger brother, Scott, is getting married today. Apparently his fiancée, Vikki, in an attempt to work off some sort of karmic debt, has agreed to spend the rest of her days with him, barring that ”til death do you part’ clause being deliberately invoked, anyway. That isn’t much of a concern, though: she’s far too sweet for that, and Scott would manage to mess it up if he tried, so I think they’re both safe.”

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Rainsong

6 April 2008

“I remembered my grandfather’s farmhouse, and the late summer weekends when my family would visit to help with the small crops. We weren’t farmers, although my great-grandparents had been; most of the land was sharecropped out, but we always grew some things for our own use. “

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Slow learner

16 June 2007

“My dad was a different story. When pressed he would admit to his own flings with creativity — singing in a barbershop quartet, for example — but most of the time he would just point out that his wife was the creative one.”

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A time long ago

11 August 2005
Thumbnail image for A time long ago

A photo of your author and his parents.

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Chief Paduke’s Revenge

25 August 2004

“One Hallowe’en back in the early 1940′s my dad and his pals were looking for a trick to pull on the unsuspecting citizens of Paducah, Kentucky, my home town. Now Paducah was named for Chief Paduke, a (probably mythical) Indian chief who “sold” some general the land which became Paducah. To venerate this brave warrior the people built a rather dignified granite statue of the chief in the middle of town.”

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