Re-Writes of Passage
The Life & Times, Crimes and Misadventures of a Very Lucky Man
I’m new at Substack but not at writing. Here’s a bit of background and some promises that might help explain what I hope to make of this newsletter.
A nutshell: I’m an oldie. I’ve been writing all my life. My stories, interests and passions go back a long way. I wrote my first political report and my first movie review in 1960. I was 10 years old. I still have copies of those stories.
I had a wild youth. I was an unwilling waterboy for the Buffalo Bills. A few years later, I was busted by the FBI for breaking into Buffalo’s federal draft board offices. Caught red-handed, I was eventually found guilty, sentenced to a year in prison by an enlightened judge who suspended that sentence.
But for all my crimes and misadventures, I’m still standing, despite enduring three types of cancer and various other late-inning afflictions. My theme song reflects my deepest belief: “O Lucky Man,” written and performed by Alan Price.
Another nutshell: I’ve been married for more that 50 years. I’ve raised two kids and helped raise five grand children. My fondest and most important stories were also born and raised with them during those years.
So here’s the upshot: I’m offering you a chance to become entangled in the stories of my lifetime. It’s a lifetime a lot like yours only … different.
I’ll be writing (and re-writing) about people and politics and about how journalism can — and needs to — affect everyday life.
I’ll write about the WWII vet who discovered his anti-war voice because of a Clint Eastwood film. And I’ll include the story of the paralyzed artist who made a career for himself against all odds. The mystery woman who walked across the Himalayas. The legendary musician who never met a stranger. They and dozens of others are the unsung men & women to whom I’m endlessly indebted.
I’ll write about rock ‘n’ roll music of the 20th century. About films by favorites such as Robert Altman, Sir Carol Reed, Preston Sturges and John Frankenheimer that thrill me to this day.
My life is happily cluttered with the works of such giants as Kurt Vonnegut, George Saunders, H. L. Davies and T. H. White, to name a few. TV is a wasteland no more, and I’m happy to remind you of how exciting that medium has become with series that rival the best cinema.
In short, I aim to piece together the fragments of my life. Think of this newsletter as part jigsaw puzzle and part time capsule. I’ll write & re-write because, like E. M. Forster, I only know what I think after I see what I say. These essays are about a luck-filled life that I hope you’ll recognize and enjoy.
Cheers!
Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and website. Never miss an update.
