One more post on my Colorado excursion. International travel is one area I lack experience, but I’m told the “average Joe” in other countries gets a view of America from news accounts heavy on crime, violence and politics. I understand the news judgments, having been trained in the news business to look for such things …
Along the walls of the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisc., are various documents that trace the history behind a pioneering home of astronomy that still has the largest active refractory telescope. Among the details of letters and other correspondence is a distant connection to Central Illinois. Several key people and highlights from the early …
The Yerkes Observatory sets itself apart in the Wisconsin village of Williams Bay. Set on 77 acres, the massive structure is well off the highway yet also back from the Geneva Lake lakefront. It is the only undeveloped (non-residential) lakefront property. The dome structure establishes itself as a place worth seeing by its broad, visible …
I quit keeping track of the number of TV shows devoted to interior design, home remodeling, etc., etc. They aren’t high on my list. But I know people who absorb this content regularly. And, I see the end results. So now when I visit someplace, I’m more apt to notice, maybe even appreciate, how being …
When I was in the newspaper business, I once wrote about the challenges full-service grocery stores face in small towns (usually defined 2,000 or fewer population). One premise of the article was that a grocery store is a community cornerstone, much like a school. In an article for the April 2015 edition Illinois Issues, a public policy …
The spring warmup is fine with me, but today I’m going back a couple months to Jan. 9. It was one of the coldest days of the winter, chilly enough to cancel school because of the biting wind chill. The snow was a bit more than a dusting though not severe. Being unpredictable carries an …
It’s Sunday, a good time to find something good to read. The best reads generally are pieces in which you can place yourself in the story in some way. Then you put your imagination to work on the role or roles you might play, and the interest and meaning multiplies. Sometimes, you can feel emotion …
Bill Hamel turns 85 today. For those of you outside of Central Illinois who don’t know, Bill worked 45 years at the Journal Gazette and later the Journal Gazette/Times-Courier, most as publisher. His father is a previous publisher, so his roots in the newspaper business run deep. I worked with Bill from 1983, when I …
Doing research on a piece I’m writing, I ran across Mabel Clark, the former owner of Clark’s Foundry in Mattoon. When I saw the Rev. Bob Clark (no relation) presided at her funeral, I called him, taking a chance he remembered a little something about Mabel. I learned hers was one of 1,500 funerals for …
I plan to use this blog as a way to profile interesting people and places, and share thoughts about other items that interest me, and may interest you, too. The site also is a place to get information on writing services I provide. If you have a need for a writer, please contact me. To …