It’s that time of year. American Atheists Federation President, David Silverman, is making the talk-show rounds with his message of “who needs Christ during Christmas?” presumably to raise money before the new year for his non-profit company. His press release points to the Federation’s new Times Square billboard, put up on December 3, which states […]
Remembering That Day of “Infamy”
In Autumn – a New Beginning
One late afternoon in October 1978, I found myself at a deserted outdoor restaurant in Boulder, Colorado with only the bartender for company. In the lengthening shadows of the Rocky Mountains, chilled by the wind, I stood with drink in hand suddenly overcome by a sense of loneliness and isolation. I watched the lights wink […]
A Grandfather’s Tale: Thankful for Turkey
On Building Relationships A grandfather’s Tale By David Palmer The late Dr. Conway Hunter used to sponsor an annual, four-day Thanksgiving retreat at St. Simons Island off the Georgia coast for people in recovery from substance addictions, mainly alcohol. In November of 1990, I joined a contingent from Little Rock at the retreat. I was […]
Restoring the American family: A key to greatness
“The reason there is so much violence and chaos in the black precincts is the disintegration of the African-American family.” With this statement, Bill O’Reilly, on Fox News the night of July 22, began to recast the national conversation about the plight of inner city blacks from a race problem to a family problem. “Right […]
“Most Alcoholics Are Better at Denial Than Counselors are at Counseling” and 8 Other Reasons Recovery from Alcoholism is HARD
Alcoholism Doesn’t Know Your Birthday (and doesn’t care)
Beware of alcohol, seniors. Your defenses are down. Nobody seems to have noticed, but the old folks are having trouble with alcohol, and it’s time we did something about it. That was the word I got when I interviewed Dr. David Lipschitz, author and one time chairman of the geriatrics department at the University of […]
A wild, insightful, often hilarious trip to sobriety – Mary Karr story
Mary Karr, author of Liar’s Club, Cherry and LIT, a Guggenheim Fellow in poetry; and a Peck professor of literature at Syracuse University, was asked once by her four year old son, Dev, to take him to church. At best an agnostic at the time, Mary asked “why?” and Dev answered, “Because I want to […]