The Optimist

When I picked up the August 2 issue of the New York Daily News to toss in the recycling bin, Parade magazine fell out and off I went in reverie.All it took was the cover.The headline “The Songs of 1970,… Continue Reading →

A friend of mine who lives in Mountaintop called to say he’d be in Pittston to drop off an electric bass for repair at The Music Scene on North Main Street, and he wanted to know if we could get… Continue Reading →

You have a wife with diabetes. She must watch her sugar intake.In this you must be an ally.But she also has a sweet tooth. She enjoys a treat.In this you want to be a pal.So, what’s a guy to do… Continue Reading →

As a newspaper editor, even a part-time editor of a small weekly, I received a lot of mail. Most of it went right into the recycling bin without being opened. These were press releases from all over the country for… Continue Reading →

In my day, it was a pair of fuzzy dice.Before he was reassigned, it may have been a St. Christopher medal, the patron saint of travelers.A coach may have had a lanyard with a whistle on it.Someone just back from… Continue Reading →

I just found out tomorrow, July 25, is National Wine and Cheese Day.That’s a holiday I can get behind, but not in the middle of summer. And especially not in the middle of this summer. Tomorrow is supposed to be… Continue Reading →

Mr. Caputo, Mike’s dad, called us “The Boys of Summer,” borrowing from the Roger Kahn book about the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, but it wasn’t baseball Mike and I spent our summer days on. It was tennis. We began playing in… Continue Reading →

Summer means a lot of things. One for me is brunch.Preferably on Sunday morning.Preferably outside.Always with a Blood Mary.And for the past five years or so, a Blood Mary the way they serve it in Chicago. With a little, 4… Continue Reading →

A buddy invited me over for a cookout last week. Later he left a voice message asking me to bring my “mitt” so we could play catch.This was good news. I love playing catch. But my “mitt”?I’m sorry, but to… Continue Reading →

Reading obituaries first thing in the morning can ruin your day.It did mine Friday.Scrolling down on my smart phone I came across the name Janet Kowalcik Cefalo and my heart sank.It was one of those obits we call in the… Continue Reading →