http://www.tribstar.com en-us Copyright CNHI All Rights Reserved. 5 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:16:00 +0000 http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_322211758.html http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_322211758.html Two images pop into my mind when smoking gets mentioned. One makes me grin slightly and shake my head. The other still tugs at me years later, and makes me remember a two-word promise. Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:34:00 +0000 http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_321233457.html http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_321233457.html Ever since I read “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, I have been an admirer of well-crafted satire, sarcasm and irony. Been known to use the persuasive little devils myself on occasion. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:01:00 +0000 http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_320210321.html http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_320210321.html It’s too late for Halloween, but the holiday reminded me of our family ghost story. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:17:00 +0000 http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_318234543.html http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_318234543.html My friend Bob Cameron died this past week. Among the many things I learned from our friendship was to never again hear that someone really old has passed, then respond with a shallow, “Oh, well, sounds like he had a good, long run. I guess it was time.” Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:08:00 +0000 http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_318230914.html http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_318230914.html Today, and for the following two days, Tribune-Star readers are being treated to a remarkable series of editorials and essays produced by the Indianapolis Star. Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:46:00 +0000 http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_315214827.html http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_315214827.html Mike Lunsford writes like Pete Maravich shot jumpers. Sometimes, he makes the literary craft seem so simple, effortless, such as a short bankshot, flowing fluidly off the Pistol’s right fingertips. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:00:00 +0000 http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_314230312.html http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_314230312.html As best I can remember, I have never dreaded a single birthday — and never really understood the popular inclination to do so. Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:27:00 +0000 http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_311232753.html http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_311232753.html Think antiabortion rights politics is simple? Take a look at the week Rep. Brad Ellsworth had. Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:05:00 +0000 http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_311230629.html http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_311230629.html In a pivotal scene in the film “Field of Dreams,” Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella feels unfairly excluded from the fun. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:29:00 +0000 http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_307232905.html http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_307232905.html Among the many truths Joan Ryan shares in her new book, “The Water Giver,” is this:“You don’t need to go to a monastery in Tibet to learn about living in the moment. Just spend a month in an ICU.” Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:58:00 +0000 http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_306195952.html http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_306195952.html Seems like only yesterday that my class at Yorkville High got together to check out how we had changed in 50 years. Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:37:00 +0000 http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_304223901.html http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_304223901.html As I was walking out of Wednesday’s Power of the Purse luncheon for the United Way, a woman said to me, “You know, for a small city, Terre Haute really does some amazing things.” Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:17:00 +0000 http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_304131826.html http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_304131826.html Walkie-talkies were the iPhones of the 1960s. A kid with a walkie-talkie was a virtual Elroy Jetson. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:34:00 +0000 http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_301213513.html http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_301213513.html I’m picturing holiday weather outside frosty windows, and a party inside. Friends grab handfuls of trail mix. Diet Cokes fizz in plastic cups. Wine gets sipped. Tree lights shine. Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:46:00 +0000 http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_300212919.html http://www.tribstar.com/opinion_columns/local_story_300212919.html In the 10-plus years we spoke to one another over our tiny San Francisco back yards, all I really knew about Lenore was that she was an unfailingly cheerful, elderly woman who adored the sun and wore her long silver hair in a braid down her back.