Columns

Wondering if you remember ‘Wondering’

The Andrews Sisters and Webb Pierce were among the diverse artists who propelled the song “Wondering” into national prominence in the early 1950s as a song to dance to and one that rose high upon the old Hillbilly Hit Parade.

Children are victims of COVID hysteria

When it became obvious that the Titanic was not going to survive its tragic collision with the iceberg in the North Atlantic, those in positions of authority started to do the human triage necessary in emergencies.

Does the president really know what he’s saying?

Misspeaking requires some knowledge of what you’re saying. For example, if you meant to order a Diet Coke but ordered a regular Coke because you didn’t specify “diet,” you would have realized, either at that moment or, when you took your first sip, that you misspoke.

Is a platonic partnership right for you?

Fact: families take many forms. Grandparents rear grandchildren. Never-married siblings share the ancestral homeplace until death. High school sweethearts get married in a fever but gradually drift apart. BFFs move in together for emotional/financial support after spouses die.

In Louisiana, it’s all about the football coach!

Perception and reality often intertwine. At Louisiana’s flagship university as well as other major universities across the country, any talk of the so called “revered tradition of amateurism” has gone by the wayside.

A hero of the Battle of New Orleans

Jean Lafitte was probably the most famous French-speaker at the Battle of New Orleans, fought Jan. 8, 1815. But there were some others — mostly former Napoleonic soldiers — who made a good account of themselves.

What Sidney Poitier taught us about ourselves

When my sister texted to tell me that Sidney Poitier had passed away, and I started crying. All I could do was conjure up the black and white image of a beloved movie, “A Patch of Blue,” the film that made me fall in love with Poitier.

The emperor has no clothes!

The year 2021 can only be described as one of massive delusion (or deceit) in Washington, D.C. It was so zany that more than half the country is aware that “The emperor has no clothes,” and perhaps it would be worth our time (maybe even save our country) if we would summarize some of the zany zoo...

How’d you like one across the lip?

A YouTube video magically transported me back to what I was watching on Thursday, January 13, 1972. The clip from NBC’s red-hot “Flip Wilson Show” features Flip as a standup comedian being heckled unmercifully by guest Redd Foxx.

From 50 comic books to 50 years

One of the unexpected packages that came in my holiday mail was a box containing a little plaque proclaiming me a member of the 50 Year Club of the Louisiana Press Association.