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Month: April 2017

See you today at Bart and Urby’s

April 29, 2017Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

When I was young I could not understand why my mom called so many women by their maiden names. Now I’m old and I get it. So, forgive me when I call Loretta Reddington Loretta Reddington. She probably hasn’t been… Continue Reading →

Bart and Urby's, JLW Lions Club

Thinking of an old friend on Phanatic’s birthday

April 27, 2017Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

A host of things make me think of John Watson, my friend and newspaper colleague who died way too soon a few years ago. The Gramercy Restaurant. John and owner and chef Mike Augello were best of friends. March Madness.… Continue Reading →

John Watson, Phillie Phanatic

Brain freeze

April 21, 2017Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

“Slow down,” I heard a female voice say, “you’re going to get brain freeze.” I was getting out of my car at the post office and could not help but smile at the well intentioned warning. You could hear the… Continue Reading →

Brain freeze

Those homonym blues

April 19, 2017Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

You never fully realize how hard the English language is until you work with a student for whom English is a second language. This particular student is an excellent story teller. She’s “a compulsive observer of the human condition,” as… Continue Reading →

Homonyms

When the world used to stop

April 14, 2017Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

I miss my grandmother most on Good Friday. Ironically, it was a day I did not particularly enjoy spending with her. This was my mother’s mother. We called her Nanny. My mom and her siblings always referred to my Nanny… Continue Reading →

Good Friday

My own creation

April 12, 2017Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

I often say my food weakness is bread. God, how I love good bread. But if pressed, I might have to reconsider. My true weakness might be cheese. Jason Sabatelle had a sample of his store’s own provolone on the… Continue Reading →

Cheese

A most wonderful time of the year

April 7, 2017Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

The Masters. I love the Masters. I enjoy it far more than any Super Bowl and, I dare say, even more than the World Series. And this from a guy who’s never touched a golf club. Most of my adult… Continue Reading →

Golf, The Masters

Very, very good to me

April 5, 2017Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

Baseball’s back. All’s right with the world. “You gotta be a man to play major league baseball,” Roy Campanella is quoted as saying, “but you gotta have a lot of little boy in you too.” That little boy part applies… Continue Reading →

Baseball

About the Optimist

Ed Ackerman Ed Ackerman, a consulting editor and columnist for the Greater Pittston Progress, has served the people of Greater Pittston for 48 years, starting in the newspaper field at age 17. The Pittston resident will share his thoughts in this blog and in a weekly column published in the Progress. greaterpittstonprogress.com

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