Prayer for the Pres It would seem that the “Christian” evangelical leaders of this country are working hard to dissuade anyone of conscience from joining their fold. The reason Christian is in quotes is that these leaders’ actions are antithetical to everything which Christ stood for. How in the name of God, whom they invoke […]
Kai Ryssdal Kai Ryssdal, host of Marketplace on National Public Radio, was interviewing James Patterson Monday evening when I tuned in, missing most of what he was opining vis a vis books and the part Amazon has played in the decline of bookstores. The celebrated author, mainly of thrillers but lately of children’s books, […]
Mona Charen Syndicated columnist Mona Charen, a hard-core conservative, is to be congratulated for condemning Republicans for their reticence in speaking out against President Trump’s comments following the racist violence in Charlottesville, Va. But she almost contradicted her criticism with a preceding remark, saying “the left’s febrile imagination” was at play in liberals’ accusations that […]
The You Docs The following is a blog post that I published a year ago. It is every bit as relevant today as it was then. The other day, I read a syndicated newspaper column by The You Docs, Drs. Mehmet Oz and Michael Roizen, calling on people to avoid saturated fat and consume […]
Before my novel Murder in Palm Beach: The Homicide That Never Died was published, the outside editor for the publisher evaluated my work in six categories. She said I was a good story teller and praised me in five of them, but found fault in the sixth: adverbs. Too many of them, specifically of the […]
E.J. Dionne Jr. Perhaps the most insightful take on the character of Donald Trump that I’ve read was delivered by E.J. Dionne Jr., syndicated columnist for the Washington Post, a couple of days before Hurricane Irma hit South Florida. It packed a wallop and blew me away—the column, that is (I survived the ’cane […]
Who woulda thunk that a little thing like a communications dilemma wrought by Hurricane Irma could give rise to a discourse on environmental degradation by a scribe atop his soapbox? The reason behind the enormity of Irma and her kissin’ cousin Harvey, the world’s climatologists tell us, is the warming of the oceans. That, and […]
Costco store, Lantana, Florida When you write a novel based on a significant crime that happened in your area, it leads to encounters and conversations that make the experience of being an author gratifying at times and, at others, just a tad disquieting. When I visit the Costco store in Lantana – two or […]
Lake Worth, Florida Attention book lovers and authors! A spiffy new bookstore is set to open in Lake Worth. It’s called Book Cellar, and the grand opening is a week from today, Friday, Oct. 6, at 6 p.m. Y’all come. Book Cellar is a welcome addition to a locale deficient in independent bookstores. Let’s […]
About eight years ago, my then-doctor did a routine blood test to determine my numbers for cholesterol, triglycerides, homocysteine, and those other markers they rely on to assess your health, particularly of the heart. Aha! My LDL cholesterol – you know, the “bad” kind – was 145. “I’m going to put you on a statin,” […]