| VOLUME XXX No. 321 | Narrowsburg, NY | August 5 - 11, 2004 |
Party Time I was sitting on my sofa one cold day in February; it was something like 10 below. On the television was “Pirates of the Caribbean.” I told my daughter that I would give anything to be sitting on a beach sipping on a pina colada. She agreed. Since we were pretty much dug in for the winter and sort of bored, we tossed around the idea of a beach party. The next occasion was June and her high school graduation. We began to plan early. Lucky for us that when it comes to planning parties we have plenty of family members ready, willing and able to help. First thing we did was send out emails. Hanging out ... against convention My son told me he is planning to demonstrate at the Republican convention in New York City in August. “Demonstrate” is not the word he used. He is planning to meet up with some friends who are planning to demonstrate. “Hanging out” is what he called it. I decided it was time to give him some perspective on American politics from a former teenager. 1968, 1972, 1980...2000, 2004. These dates are punctuations in the life of an American citizen. In the worst of times, the knowledge that our government can be revolutionized every four years can keep us sane and, usually, peaceful. A requiem for reading? If, by chance, you’ve joined me on this page—your eyes, my words, the pleasant effort of our minds teamed toward an understanding—welcome to this shared moment. When we read, our mental landscapes merge. We co-create something. I value this process from both sides—as writer and reader. That’s why I own so many books and why I feel that libraries are sacred shrines. It is why I’m gravely concerned at a report released this week by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), entitled, “Reading at Risk.” The report, conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, spanned 20 years and sampled the reading habits of 17,000 Americans, providing statistical measurements by age, gender, education, income, region, race and ethnicity. The games where everybody wins: My view LIVINGSTON MANOR, NY –— Taking off on songwriter Don McLean’s hit “The Day the Music Died,” someone could write a similar song about the near demise of kids’sports as fun. Recently, the undue emphasis on winning has begun to take on an alarming prominence. The now famous mantra once uttered by legendary Green Bay Packers’ coach Vince Lombardi, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing,” has, thanks to the media’s celebration of winning, seeped from professional sports into college athletics. Football and basketball programs are pumped up to attract wealthy alumni lured by a winning team. High schools recruit players and seem eager to boost their reputations. The winning mentality has even permeated the younger ranks of AYSO soccer and Little League. |
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