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The Plaque
The news about 32 Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the America’s) came as no surprise. When AT&T Long Lines moved to Bedminster N. J. in 1977, the die was cast. The headquarters for Long Lines and its successor organizations was to be in suburban New Jersey, not in New York City. The news first appeared as…
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IN MEMORIAM TO SPC
In Memoriam Shannon P. Catt A beloved lap cat who gave his family love and devotion without reservation for nearly 15 years. And said…“no chains shall sully thee, Thou soul of love and bravery, Thy songs were made for the pure and free, They shall never sound in slavery” Final verse of “The Minstrel Boy,”…
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ON MORTALITY
Two events in the last week led me to think a little about mortality. The first event has to do with old Shannon, our great cat. Shannon wandered out late in the night last week and another cat or raccoon beat up on him. As my parents would say in their Elizabethan English, currently he…
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LETTER TO HUTCHINSON NEWS
Mr. Greg Halling, Editor Hutchinson News 300 West 2nd Avenue Hutchinson, KS 67501 Mr. Greg Halling: This letter has been delayed for more than 56 years. It could have been written in September of 1942. And it could also have been written in late January of 1943. It has troubled me for all these years…
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THE PASTICHE
In recent months, a collection of essays has emerged from my participation in the Kessler Speech Therapy Program. As a general rule, these were travel experiences in various parts of the world. In effect, they were a little like a travelogue. And in nearly every one of those several episodes, the tone was positive and…
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HOWELL RAINES LOWERS THE BOOM
Start with a reading – not from Scripture, but from the next thing to it. “One reason for more meticulous recording of full names is that many of the figures in the current news will pass from the pages of newspapers in a few years, but The New York Times remains as a permanent record…
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BEN GIVENS’ NEWSPEAK
When, in an earlier discussion at Kessler, the subject of the former President Herbert Hoover came up. Mrs. Morganstein said that it was not unusual for Aphasia patents to mangle his name, i.e., Hoobert Heever. I gather that Spoonerisms are a commonplace and would involve other names beyond Herbert Hoover. During much of the last…
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QUID PRO QUO
As time sneaks up on us all, there is a question about Mr. Webster’s definition of compromise. He suggests that it is a settlement of differences by arbitration or by consent reached by mutual concessions. Now if it were all that easy, I’d say fine. Let’s raise the children in your faith of Buddhism and…
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DIDGERREDOO
The title to this little essay is an aboriginal name from the Outback in Australia. There is no written language in the aboriginal culture, so every one is free to spell it as he sees fit. I spell it as DID-GER-RE-DOO, a musical instrument. So keep that name in mind while we spend a few…
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THE THREE I LEAGUE
When we were young, many of my compatriots had their sights set on a professional baseball career. Unrealistically, as it turned out. But we didn’t know that then. In the Midwest, one of the leagues to which we aspired had clubs in Illinois, Indiana and Iowa. And so it became the Three I League. It…