When Jimmy Carter attended First Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. as president, I was a newspaper religion writer covering him for The Washington Post. What I remember most, is the consistency of his faith – it was organic and there was nothing false or contrived about it. He was president – yet also regularly taught … At DC’s First Baptist Church with President Jimmy Carter READ MORE »

Remembering Robbie Robertson, songwriter, guitarist and best known as a member of The Band, who died Aug. 9, after an extraordinary career. This article is republished from 2016. Testimony, the memoir by The Band’s guitarist and principal songwriter Robbie Robertson, ends with The Last Waltz, the group’s final concert in 1976 and often called “the end … Robbie Robertson of The Band “Testifies” – “It’s all about passion…” READ MORE »

Travel has changed; it’s different in 2023. While we may not be traveling as much to far-off places, how do we approach each day as a travel journey? I’ve been reflecting on this question since the pandemic began three years ago, and as March 2023 rolls in, I’ve come up with some answers. I’m not … How Travel Is Different in 2023 READ MORE »

I kept a journal on my iPhone Notes app during the pandemic; it was a handy digital diary of thoughts or experiences as they occurred. With my iPhone a constant companion for staying in touch with friends and family, I discovered that my texts, jottings in the Notes app and emails became a chronicle of … Keeping a Journal on the iPhone Notes App READ MORE »

“Travel changed my life in the sense that it helped me realize who I was,” actor and travel writer Andrew McCarthy explained at the annual Book Passage Travel Conference in Corte Madera, California. “Travel was my university. When I traveled, I grew up…I would travel for months alone…One day in Saigon I wrote down the … “Travel Changed My Life” – Actor/Writer Andrew McCarthy READ MORE »

On the fourth day of the last deluge of steady rains, I headed to the beach for some fresh air and a beach walk between showers. It felt as though I was emerging from Middle Earth. There were more people than usual on the Marina del Rey stretch between the Venice beach pier and the … Los Angeles: Alas, The Winter Season Rains READ MORE »

[Note: This was my first blog item. Five years later, I wrote a book about my father’s paintings.] I learned my love of maps from my father — a World War II pilot and also a painter. I tagged along as a kid as he painted watercolor landscapes in the central Ohio countryside and learned … Beyond a Map’s Surface READ MORE »