Would-be writers have struggled for centuries trying to put words together that made sense. Writing goes back to scribbling on cave walls. Much later, Greeks and others known as philosophers wrote about what they'd learned about living a good and virtuous life. Surprisingly, they knew more b…

“Did you ever feel as if the whole world was a tuxedo and you were a pair of brown shoes.”

As the holiday season gears up, many individuals have already begun their shopping. For many adults, jewelry is the obvious choice. This Christmas, Tiffany & Co. is offering a limited edition Advent Calendar. This 4-foot calendar is in the shape of Tiffany’s Fifth Avenue store and contai…

Among the definitions Merriam-Webster offers for “per•spec•tive” is this:

The 2019 election is over and we can look forward to a post-election euphoria driven by a respite in negative political television advertisements we have been torqued by for several weeks, before they start back full-force for the 2020 elections. I ration myself to one hour of television eac…

Hard-working people need a break from the hectic jungle out there. Modern stressful times take a toll on every fabric of a human’s total being. A few days to recuperate each year is vital to one’s body and soul. It can happen if you don’t have children in your house.

Although I was barely out of grade school before she died, I got to know my great-grandmother, Clara. She often stayed with my grandparents, living out of their spare room and her two suitcases before moving on to board at yet another son or daughter’s place for a few months.

“Practice make perfect, but nobody’s perfect, so why practice.”

Two days after what some apparently view as a puzzling election result in Kentucky is hardly time enough to analyze accurately what happened and why. But I think we can draw some broad conclusions.

Yet another exercise in flexing our Democracy muscles is in the books. Here are some post-2019 election musings from the editor’s office…

This year, right before Thanksgiving, a film titled "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" is scheduled for release in the United States. In this movie Tom Hanks plays Fred Rogers from the long running children's television show, "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." From 1968 to 2001, millions of c…

I’m a sentimental sort when it comes to saying goodbye to things that have served me well. I still have my first baseball glove, a boyhood rock collection, and the faded briefcase I carried to work every day for nearly 40 years.

My mom has a peculiar habit.

“To form a more perfect union” — those words are at the heart of what is real in our country. In 1776 a band of men gathered to enact the Constitution of the United States of America. The fight over this country was mighty. Britain did not want to give us up, this resource-rich country that …

When I was growing up, my mother told me to always be nice to everyone. She said that I might not ever attain honor and glory, but that God would judge me on how nice I’ve been. My grandfather, who was a dirt farmer and dabbled in politics, told me to never collude with a neighbor or become …

Truth be told, we’ll all be glad when the political sign yard decor goes away, the broadcast barbs stop stinging our ears, and the nasty letters find a home in the trash.

Over the last several days, my wife Diane and I have been staying with our 2-year-old granddaughter. It’s a very cute, but rather loud world. Our granddaughter loves singing the Farmer in the Dell and listening to the Itsy Bitsy Spider. In addition to these old favorites that we sang and pla…

“The best argument against Democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”

The Indiana High School Athletic Association just can’t seem to make up its mind when it comes to how it runs class tournaments.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had a question for Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

INDIANAPOLIS — All this week, a disciplinary hearing centered on the allegations of four women that they were groped by Attorney General Curtis Hill has riveted the Statehouse.

There are two ways to live life — scientifically or the natural way. Our citizenry is now struggling, due in part to the scattered brains at the top. It’s like rotten eggs scrambled for the main course. Fortunately, mental scientists understand this, and have developed artificial intelligenc…

“The chicken came first — God would look silly sitting on an egg.”

This week, a letter written by English novelist Jane Austen is scheduled to be auctioned off and is expected to fetch between $80,000 and $120,000. Austen wrote this letter In 1813 to her sister Cassandra, describing an outing she took with her three nieces. The letter is unique in that it d…

As the level of civility and willingness to engage in respectful conversations with others who hold opposing viewpoints seems to decline, it is important to be mindful of the role we play in expanding or healing the increasing constellations of wounds that divide us. Being a retired counselo…

There is distressing news from Indiana University.

Surely, one of the homeliest animals known to man is the turkey vulture. With its horror-mask countenance and Bela Lugosi-like mien, the lowly “buzzard” spends its day cleaning up the grisly messes that others make. And we should be thankful that they do what they do….

Trash.

My new favorite song, “Is He Worthy?” written by Andrew Peterson and sung by Chris Tomlin and a bunch of people in a church, starts out with a call and response:

Melvin Kaminsky was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on June 28, 1926. He is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian and even a composer. He began his career writing with comic legend Carl Reiner on the early TV variety show "Your Show of Shows." Together with Buck Henry, he wrote much of the material…

“How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?”

If we don’t learn anything, the world will end sooner than expected.

Across the river on the corner of South Shelby and Breckenridge, in the up-and-coming neighborhood known as Smoketown, a new mural has gone up in just a few days with guns, or rather breast, ablazing.

It appears that our 12-year-old grandson will soon be getting glasses and he’s not at all happy about it. With his three sisters and both parents all wearing glasses, it looks unlikely that he will be able to dodge this bullet. At about the same age our oldest son was also unhappy about gett…

The South Central Indiana League of Women Voters along with sister organizations throughout Indiana and the country celebrate a huge milestone next year. On Feb. 14, 2020, the League on a national level will celebrate its 100th birthday. The organization was founded because women were fighti…

It happened so fast. Not lost on me is that seconds either way, and my mortality would have been apparent — along with that of the deer.

“I hate those meeces to pieces.”

Be careful driving. Do not hit a school bus or a child eagerly looking forward to learning the three Rs. And there are some older folks, particularly in high places, who need to ride a school bus. How is it that elected officials usually perform at a moronic level?

Genesis tells the well-known story of Joseph, a man who had some unfair stuff happen to him. The favorite child of his father, his jealous brothers toss him down a well and leave him to die — and then go back and get him and sell him into slavery.

Partisanship makes people do strange things.

Does your child’s school have a library?

Last week’s column on Indiana’s hospital monopolies generated 10 times the emails of any other column I’ve penned over the last decade. Hoosier taxpayers are interested in understanding who caused this problem and how we can fix it. I commend the thousands of readers who visited our website …

One of the great paradoxes of life is that the possessions we desire the most invariably get messed up, no matter how hard we try to prevent it. To make matters worse, this often occurs right after we finally acquire the possession and it’s usually our own fault.

I have come to the conclusion, as editor of the News and Tribune, that consensus is hard to come by. Some days, it’s as elusive as the fish that got away … you know, the big one.

I had a lot to do Sunday. I had to work, which takes up a chunk of the afternoon, along with a few other responsibilities that had to be met that day. Unfortunately, I didn't have time for a family reunion kickball game at O'Bannon Woods State Park, the site of the previous battles from year…

In the United States, there are more than 16 million people caring for someone with dementia, and estimates place millions more volunteering around the world. Giving care for a loved one can make an incredible difference for the patient’s quality of life. It is a remarkable gift to give, but…

The challenges of being a parent are unbounded. There are those everyone warns you about, almost everywhere you go: You'll never sleep again. Stick a cheerio in the toilet to help the little dude aim. Don't even bother trying to feed him anything green before college.

“Wonder Woman is not a fictional character. Wonder Woman is a mindset!”

In a previous article, I discussed the possibility of uploading your consciousness inside your brain onto a flash drive. This would provide a kind of “simulated self” for your posterity. You could live with your ordinary self during your daily travails, or switch to your simulated self, embe…

What makes a great story? Is it the twist and turns of the plot? Is it the development of the characters involved? Does a great story depend on the audience deciding that it is interesting or important, or does a great story have something that is of intrinsic value? “Stories,” writes Neil G…