Columns

Loggers prayed as fervently as farmers

In the late 1800s, before narrow-gauge railroads crisscrossed the piney woods of southwest Louisiana, loggers prayed just as fervently as farmers for just the right amount of rain. It wasn’t because they wanted the trees to grow. It was so that they could get their logs to the sawmills.

Thurber’s Tail: Halloween safety tips for pets

I love Halloween and all the fun and the silliness it entails. However, as a new dog dad — my lovable Labrador, Thurber, is in his 22nd month — I’m learning that our beloved pets face no small number of Halloween risks that we must protect them from.

Early voting or squirrely voting?

I’m proud of my son Gideon for doing his civic duty and casting a vote for the first time. (This comes mere months after he did his civic duty and signed up for Selective Service.

Pete, six or seven ghosts, and me

Here is why I believe there may be something to at least some of the ghost stories that we hear at this time of year. In 1998, photographer Pete Piazza and I spent weeks driving all across south Louisiana, gathering material and taking photographs for the book Our Acadiana.

Socialism 101: It never ends well

It is important to know and understand the history of Socialism, as America is under siege today by a strong Marxist movement that is actively trying to fundamentally transform America.

There’s no greater issue than abortion

James Carville once quipped: “It’s the economy, stupid.”

Halloween is for kids, isn’t it?

It’s a question worth asking in these nutty times: how old is too old to trick-or-treat? On the question-and-answer website Quora, some people ask if the age of 12 is a good time to hang up the ghost costumes. That sounds about right to me.

Does Halloween candy trivia drive you crazy?

Perhaps it’s partly because my mother owns a huge antique desk from Milky Way Farm (the former estate of Franklin C. Mars, founder of Mars Candies), but I pay keen attention to the annual flurry of “filler” news items about Halloween candy. “Prices up or down? What’s hot and what’s not?

Rooting for my baseball heroes

It was one of the most awesome experiences of my childhood. It happened 50 years ago on an overcast day in Pittsburgh on Sept. 30, 1972. My Little League team had cheap-seat tickets in right field in Three Rivers Stadium.

Did they celebrate Emmeline’s birthday?

Even the New York Times took notice of the “literary birthday” at the end of October 1967 of Emmeline Labiche, “heroine who made her name … in real life and then gained immortality in the lines of a poem.”