I don’t know if there’s anything good anybody could say about the year 2020, except that it’s finally over. Who can ever forget the terrible toll of lives lost to COVID, of isolating at home, wearing masks, sanitizing everything, and being worried every time we coughed or sneezed? But at least some people have found […]
Have you missed us? Don’t worry, we’re alive and well. We have just been devoting most of our time to family. But let me bring you up to date. After spending the night in Lordsburg, New Mexico, on Tuesday, the 17th, we headed northwest on US Highway 70, known as the Old West Highway, for […]
Should newspapers have trigger warnings? Are we that fragile as a society that we have to be warned that something unpleasant may exist? I can watch hours of violence on prime-time television, but when the nightly news comes on, I have to be warned that the report of an auto accident might be disturbing? Another […]
Longtime reader Gerri Poth Beckman and her hubby John are spending some time in our old stomping grounds, the White Mountains of Arizona. Before we went on the road as fulltime RVers, Terry and I lived there and I published the weekly newspaper. The White Mountains are also the setting for my Big Lake mystery […]
When I was in college a journalism professor addressed the topic of media bias. He said that biased media is any media that disagrees with your point of view. Everyone had their own selective perspective, and if you disagree with them, you are obviously biased. A career in the small town newspaper business showed me […]
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (no, actually it was right here, come to think of it), automobiles came with this funny little metal thing called a key that you put into a slot on your car’s dashboard or steering wheel column. You turned it and the engine started, just like […]
Television has taught us that journalists and the police are always at odds with each other, sworn enemies who will never come to any kind of middle ground. The reporters are pushy and don’t care about anything but getting the story, and if they can throw a cop under the bus to get it, even […]
When my friend Linda Sand sent me this yesterday, I had to laugh. You have to wonder how something like this slips past the proofreaders. Don’t ask me, but it happens all the time in the publishing business, whether you’re putting up newspapers, books, or magazines. I’ve had my share of gaffes, that’s for sure. […]
For as long as I can remember the media has been accused of being dishonest, corrupt, and no more than a purveyor of lies. Especially when they report a story that offends a reader’s political or religious leanings. But the reality is that most small town newspapers have always strived to serve their communities by […]
Anybody who has ever owned their own business knows that you have to wear many hats. On any given day, you might be making a sales presentation to a new client, working the cash register, making deliveries, or taking out the trash. Or being a bill collector. During my long career publishing small-town newspapers on […]
Publishing small-town newspapers on the Pacific Northwest coast and in Arizona was a lot of fun, and I like to think that sometimes my publications made a difference in the communities they served. I gained a reputation for stepping on toes, and that was all right with me because sometimes those toes really needed to […]
When you publish a small-town newspaper, everybody knows you. It’s kind of like being a celebrity, or at least a big fish in a small pond. Sometimes that was nice. I won’t lie, occasionally we got some special seating in restaurants and free movie or concert tickets, things like that. Other times it was a […]
Freedom of the press. It’s a term that is thrown about by many people who have absolutely no idea what it means. I see it quite often in the Living The RV Dream Facebook group that I help John Huggins manage. We have very clear rules on what can and cannot be discussed in the […]
The weather here in Central Florida has been crazy. In the last week we’ve had overnight temperatures that dropped down into the upper 30s, and some days we had to wear jackets when we left the house. Other days, like yesterday, it was in the 80s and the air conditioner was running. I guess the […]
After reading yesterday’s blog post about my friend Jim Lewis and I installing a ceiling fan in our garage, a longtime reader from the Gypsy Journal and the blog, who attended several of our RV rallies, wanted me to tell about the time I was assaulted by a ceiling fan. Okay, but be forewarned. You […]
Well, it was over a month behind schedule, but last night I finally hit publish on Mullets And Man Buns, my 4th John Lee Quarrels book. This is my 20th mystery novel, and my 30th book. Yep, I hit the big 3-0. It may be my ego talking, but I think that’s a bit of […]
Somebody told me once that you start becoming old the day you buy one of those little plastic boxes with the days of the week numbered on them so you know when to take your pills. I don’t think we are quite there yet, but we seem to have reached the point where we need […]
I was a little surprised when I got an email and blog comment from someone accusing me of being insensitive to African-Americans because of yesterday’s blog, In Search Of Aunt Jemima. But then, I guess I shouldn’t have been because I know some people wake up in the morning looking for some reason to be […]
Potpourri Definition of potpourri – 1: a mixture of flowers, herbs, and spices that is usually kept in a jar and used for scent. 2: a miscellaneous collection. The second definition above pretty much describes today’s blog. Just a collection of miscellaneous thoughts and info that I’ll share, because I really don’t have anything else […]
You might think that fishing is pretty simple. You tie a hook on the end of your line, stick some bait on the hook, throw it in the water and just wait for a hungry fish to come by so you can make it your dinner. But as any experienced angler will tell you, there’s […]